Ciliated epithelial cells

respiratory tract

Summary. Ciliated cells play an integral role in the defense mechanisms of the respiratory system. By the coordinated beating of their cilia they provide the force necessary to clear potentially harmful material from the airways.

The function of cilia is to move water relative to the cell in a regular movement of the cilia. This process can either result in the cell moving through the water, typical for many single-celled organisms, or in moving water and its contents across the surface of the cell.

The conducting zone is lined with hair-like structures called cilia that are covered in mucus, which helps trap potentially dangerous materials. Cilia are mobile, tiny, finger-like projections on the surface of airway cells. Cilia line the airways and help move mucus up and out of the lungs [5].

Cilia are short, hair like appendages extending from the surface of a living cell. Flagella are long, threadlike appendages on the surface of a living cell.

The smooth ER has an important role in lipid and steroid synthesis, it is a storage for intracellular calcium as well. Without ER in the skeletal muscle fibers couldn’t happen muscle contraction. In the absence of these cellular mechanisms the cell would probably die.

Both rough ER and smooth ER have the same types of membranes but they have different shapes. Rough ER looks like sheets or disks of bumpy membranes while smooth ER looks more like tubes. Rough ER is called rough because it has ribosomes attached to its surface. Smooth ER (SER) acts as a storage organelle.