What kind of cells are lysosomes found in

When food is eaten or absorbed by the cell, the lysosome releases its enzymes to break down complex molecules including sugars and proteins into usable energy needed by the cell to survive. In addition to their role as the digestive component and organelle-recycling facility of animal cells, lysosomes are considered to be parts of the endomembrane system. Lysosomes also use their hydrolytic enzymes to destroy pathogens disease-causing organisms that might enter the cell.

In a process known as phagocytosis or endocytosis, a section of the plasma membrane of the macrophage invaginates folds in and engulfs a pathogen. The invaginated section, with the pathogen inside, then pinches itself off from the plasma membrane and becomes a vesicle. Now, the lysosome is a specific type of organelle that's very acidic. So that means that it has to be protected from the rest of the inside of the cell.

It's a compartment, then, that has a membrane around it that stores the digestive enzymes that require this acid, low-pH environment.

Those enzymes are called hydrolytic enzymes, and they break down large molecules into small molecules. For example, large proteins into amino acids, or large carbohydrates into simple sugars, or large lipids into single fatty acids.

And when they do that, they provide for the rest of the cell the nutrients that it needs to So, for example, if you can't do that, it can't break down large molecules into small molecules. The cell is further safeguarded from exposure to the biochemical catalysts present in lysosomes by their dependency on an acidic environment. With an average pH of about 4. The acidity of the lysosome is maintained with the help of hydrogen ion pumps, and the organelle avoids self-digestion by glucosylation of inner membrane proteins to prevent their degradation.

The discovery of lysosomes involved the use of a centrifuge to separate the various components of cells. To explain this phenomenon, de Duve suggested that the digestive enzyme was encased in some sort of membrane-bound organelle within the cell, which he dubbed the lysosome. After estimating the probable size of the lysosome, he was able to identify the organelle in images produced with an electron microscope.

Lysosomes are found in all animal cells, but are most numerous in disease-fighting cells, such as white blood cells. This is because white blood cells must digest more material than most other types of cells in their quest to battle bacteria, viruses, and other foreign intruders.

Several human diseases are caused by lysosome enzyme disorders that interfere with cellular digestion. Tay-Sachs disease, for example, is caused by a genetic defect that prevents the formation of an essential enzyme that breaks down complex lipids called gangliosides.

An accumulation of these lipids damages the nervous system, causes mental retardation, and death in early childhood. Also, arthritis inflammation and pain are related to the escape of lysosome enzymes. License Info. Image Use.