A class of morphologically heterogeneous cytoplasmic particles
in animal and plant tissues characterised by their content of
hydrolytic enzymes and the structure-linked latency of these
enzymes. The intracellular functions of lysosomes depend on
their lytic potential. The single unit membrane of the lysosome
acts as a barrier between the enzymes enclosed in the lysosome
and the external substrate. The activity of the enzymes
contained in lysosomes is limited or nil unless the vesicle in
which they are enclosed is ruptured. Such rupture is supposed to
be under metabolic (hormonal) control. (12 Dec 1998) |Bookmark
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