Roles of the Different Parts of the Eukaryotic Cells Endomembrane System in the Production of Proteins - Essay Example

The rough endoplasmic reticulum avails adequate surface area meant to accommodate extra ribosomes, which are sites for protein synthesis (Gupta, 2009). Proteins destined for various parts of the cell first enter the endoplasmic reticulum (Gupta, 2009). The endoplasmic reticulum ensures quality control of the proteins and at the same time provides a point of accumulation of storage proteins. The reticulum is then mandated with the duty of transiting already made proteins to the Golgi apparatus (Gupta, 2009). The nuclear envelope also has some ribosomes and is responsible for newly made Glycoproteins. The Golgi apparatus undertakes the function of making, modifying as well as binding proteins (Eroschenko & Fiore, 2013). This is due to the nature of its enzymes’ modification, hence known for carrying out sulfation, glycosylation, and phosphorylation of the proteins (Karp, 2010). Some modification activities act as signals directing proteins to their respective locations, which are plasma membrane, lysosome, or for secretion (Eroschenko & Fiore, 2013). Lysosomes contain a variety of digestive enzymes and are responsible for the digestion of proteins. In plants, vacuoles correspond to the lysosomes of animals (Karp, 2010). Proteins that move to the plasma membrane form the lipid bilayer. They act as membrane proteins besides having varied roles in their respective locations in the cell (Eroschenko & Fiore, 2013). They regulate chemical reactions in the cell as well as the uptake of molecules. They also act as carriers of molecules across the membrane and provide anchorage too. From the Golgi apparatus, there is a constitutive secretory pathway used to export the secretory proteins continuously to the extracellular matrix (Karp, 2010). Some cells however have a guarded secretory pathway. Some cells secrete regulatory proteins like hormones whereas others secrete digestive enzymes, antibodies, or mucus (Karp, 2010).