Organelles of the Eukaryotic Cell

 Unique proteins in the interior and membrane of each type of organelle determine its specific functional
characteristics
Lysosomes are Acidic Organelles that Contain a Battery of Degradative Enzymes
 Provide excellent example of ability of intracellular membranes to form closed compartments in which the
composition of the lumen (aqueous interior of compartment) differs from that of the surrounding cytosol
 Found in animal cells
 Bounded by a single membrane and responsible for degrading components that have become obsolete for the
cell or organism
 Occasionally materials taken into the cell by endocytosis or phagocytosis degraded in lysosomes
 Contain group of enzymes that degrade polymers into their monomeric subunits
 All lysosomal enzymes work best at acid pH values and collectively are termed acid hydrolases
o H ion pump and Cl- channel protein the lysosomal membrane maintain pH of inside at 4.8
o Pump hydrolyzes ATP to pump H into the lumen and Cl- channel allow Cl- to enter
o Together they transport HCl
o Acid pH helps to denature proteins, making them accessible to lysosomal hydrolases which are resistant
to acid denaturation
 Lysosomal enzyme poorly active at neutral pH of cells and most ECF
o Thus if lysosome releases its contents in cytosol, little degradation takes place
 Vary in size and shape
 Function as sites where various materials to be degraded collect
 Primary lysosomes are roughly spherical and don’t contain obvious particulate or membrane debris
 Secondary lysosomes are larger and irregularly shapes, appear to result form the fusion of primary lysosomes
with other membrane organelles; contain particles or membranes in the process of being digested
 Process by which aged organelle degraded in lysosome called autophagy (“eating oneself”)
Plant Vacuoles Store Small Molecules and Enable Cell to Elongate Rapidly
 Most plant cells have at least one membrane limited internal vacuole
o Single vacuole may occupy as much as 80% of mature plant cell
 Store water, ions, and nutrients such as sucrose and amino acids
 Act as receptacles for waste products and excess salts taken up by the plant and may function similarly to
lysosomes in animal cells
o Like lysosomes: vacuoles have acid pH, maintained by proton pump and Cl- channel protein in
membrane
o Contain degradative enzymes
 Vacuolar membrane permeable to water but is poorly permeable to the small molecules stored within it
o As solute [] higher in vacuole lumen than in cytosol, water moves by osmotic flow into vacuoles
o Influx of water causes vacuole to expand and water to move into the cell, creating hydrostatic pressure or
turgor inside the cell
o Pressure balanced by mechanical resistance of the cellulose containing cell wall
 Cell walls must be strong enough to react to the turgor pressure in a controlled way
 Unlike animal cells, plants can elongate rapidly
o Elongation usually accompanies plant growth, occurs when segment of somewhat elastic cell wall
stretches under pressure created by water in the vacuole
Peroxisomes Degrade Fatty Acids and Toxic Compounds
 All animal cells (except erythrocytes) and many plant cells have peroxisomes
 Bounded by a single membrane
 Contain several oxidases—enzymes that use molecular oxygen to oxidize organic substances, in the process
creating hydrogen peroxide (corrosive)
 Contain a lot of catalase which degrades hydrogen peroxide to yield water and oxygen
 Peroxisomal oxidation of fatty acids yields acetyl groups and is not linked to ATP formation (unlike in mitochondria
which produces CO2 and coupled to generation of ATP)
 Energy released during peroxisomal oxidation converted to heat and acetyl groups transported into cytosol
 Principal organelle in which fatty acids oxidized and generating precursors for biosynthetic pathways
 Particularly in liver and kidney, toxic molecules that enter bloodstream also degraded in peroxisomes producing
harmless products
Mitochondria Principle Sites of ATP Production in Aerobic Cells
 Most eukaryotic cells have many mitochondria (25% volume of cytoplasm)
 Main sites of ATP production during aerobic metabolism
 Among largest organelles, generally exceeded in size only but nucleus, vacuoles, chloroplasts
 Contain two different membranes: outer and inner membrane separated by intermembrane space
 o Outer membrane composed of half lipid and half protein (contains proteins that make membrane
permeable to molecules having high molecular weights)
o Inner membrane: much less permeable, about 20% lipid and 80% protein
 Higher proportion of protein than in other cellular membranes
 Surface of inner membrane increased by large number of infoldings (cristae) that protrude into
matrix (central space)
 Nonphotosyntehtic cells, principle fuels for ATP synthesis are fatty acids and glucose
Chloroplasts, the Sites of Photosynthesis, Contain Three Membrane Limited Compartments
 Except for vacuoles, are the largest and most characteristic organelles in plant cells and green algae
 Surrounded by outer and inner membrane
 Contain extensive internal system of interconnected membrane limited sacs (thylakoids) which are flattened to
form disks
o Often grouped in stacks (grana) and embedded in a matrix (stroma)
 Thylakoid membranes contain chlorophyll (green pigment) and other pigments and enzymes that absorb light and
generate ATP during photosynthesis
 Molecular mechanisms by which ATP formed in mitochondria and chloroplasts similar
o Share other features: both migrate from place to place within cells and contain their own DNA (encodes
some of the key organellar proteins)
o Proteins encoded by mitochondrial or chloroplast DNA synthesized on ribosomes within the organelles
o Most proteins in each organelle encoded in nuclear DNA and synthesized in cytosol and then
incorporated into organelles
Endoplasmic Reticulum Network of Interconnected Internal Membranes
 Larges membrane in eukaryotic cell encloses the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
o Compartment comprising a network of interconnected, closed, membrane bounded vesicles
 ER has number of functions—important in synthesis of many membrane lipids and proteins
 Smooth ER
o Synthesis of fatty acids and phospholipids
o Enzymes in smooth ER of liver modify or detoxify hydrophobic chemicals by converting them into more
water soluble product that can be secreted be body
o High doses of such compounds result in proliferation of SER in liver cells
 Rough ER
o Ribosomes bound to rough ER synthesize membrane and organelle proteins and virtually all proteins to
be secreted from the cell
o Ribosomes bound to RER by nascent polypeptide chain of the protein
o All eukaryotic cells contain discernible amount of RER as it is needed for synthesis of PM proteins and
proteins of the ECM
o RER abundant in cells specialized to produce secreted proteins
Golgi Vesicles Process and Sort Secretory and Membrane proteins
 Vesicles bud off from regions of RER not coated with ribosomes carry proteins to luminal cavity of Golgi complex
o Another membrane limited organelle
o Series of flattened sacs located near nucleus in many cells
 Series of flattened membrane vesicles surrounded by number of more or less spherical membrane vesicles
 Stack of flattened Golgi sacs have three regions: the cis, the medial, the trans
o Vesicles from RER fuse with cis region and deposit proteins; proteins progress from cis to medial to trans
o Within each region are different enzymes that modify secretory and membrane proteins differently,
depending on their structure and final destination
 After secretory proteins modified, transported by second set of transport vesicles (bud off trans side)
Double Membraned Nucleus Contains Nucleolus and a Fibrous Matrix
 Nucleus, largest organelle in eukaryotic cells—surrounded by two membranes, each a phospholipid bilayer
containing different types of proteins
 Inner membrane defines the nucleus
 Outer membrane continuous with rough ER
 Space between two membranes is continuous wit the lumen of the RER
 In growing cells, nucleus is metabolically active producing DNA and RNA
o RNA exported through nuclear pores to cytoplasm for protein synthesis
 Suborganelle, nucleolus is easily recognized under light microscope
o Most of cell’s rRNA synthesized in nucleuolus
 Nonnucleolar region of nucleus—nucleoplasm can be seen to have areas of high DNA []
 Fibrous proteins called lamins form 2D network along inner surface of inner membrane
o Gives shape and apparently binding DNA to it
The Cytosol Contains Many Particles and Cytoskeletal Fibers
 Cytosol (protein rich fraction remaining after removal of all organelles) contains numerous soluble enzyme and
three major types of protein filaments: actin microfilaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments
 In all animal and plant cells, these filaments form a complex network, the cytoskeleton, that gives the cell
structural stability and contributes to cell movement