BRAINCAKELysosomes
Lysosomes are small, spherical vesicles surrounded by a single membrane and containing powerful hydrolytic enzymes (hydrolases), such as proteases, lipases, carbohydrases and nucleases. They are made by the Golgi apparatus, which packages the enzymes into vesicles that bud off from its trans face. Lysosomes are about 0.1 to 1 µm across and look dense in electron micrographs.
The inside of a lysosome is acidic (about pH 5), which is the optimum pH of its enzymes. The membrane keeps the enzymes separate from the rest of the cell, so they cannot digest the cell's own contents. Even if a few enzymes leak, they work poorly at the neutral pH of the cytosol.
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Key terms in this lesson
- phagocyte
- A type of white blood cell that engulfs and digests pathogens or debris by phagocytosis.
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