How Cells Function by Catherine Coots & Jennifer Viegas

Author:Catherine Coots & Jennifer Viegas
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781622758111
Publisher: Britannica Educational Publishing
Published: 2015-02-06T16:00:00+00:00

This diagram shows the structure of a macrophage. Macrophages, the principal cell engulfing components of the immune system, ingest and destroy foreign particles. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

ORGANELLES CALLED LYSOSOMES

Macrophages and other cells are able to eat and destroy invaders chiefly because of a saclike organelle called a lysosome. Lysosomes are vesicles full of enzymes that exist in a cell’s cytoplasm. They serve as the stomach of the cell.

To kill an outside invader, a search and destroy cell is able to open up its membrane around the unwanted substance, such as a bacterium, and enclose the intruder within the cell. Once there, lysosomes that are manufactured by the Golgi apparatus and the endoplasmic reticulum break down the invader into its basic components. These remaining bits, similar to garbage, can be recycled for later use by the cell.

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