Structure
The general structure of the endoplasmic reticulum is a membranous network of cisterns(sac-like structures) held together by the cytoskeleton. The phospholipid membrane encloses a space, the cisternal space (or lumen), which is continuous with the perinuclear space but separate from the cytosol. The functions of the endoplasmic reticulum vary greatly depending on its cell type, cell function, and cell needs. The ER can even modify to change over time in response to cell needs. The three most common varieties are called rough endoplasmic reticulum, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, and sarcoplasmic reticulum.
The quantity of RER and SER in a cell can slowly interchange from one type to the other, depending on changing metabolic needs. Transformation can include embedment of new proteins in membrane as well as structural changes. Massive changes may also occur in protein content without noticeable structural changes.
Read more about this topic: Smooth Endoplasmatic Recticulum
Famous quotes containing the word structure:
“A committee is organic rather than mechanical in its nature: it is not a structure but a plant. It takes root and grows, it flowers, wilts, and dies, scattering the seed from which other committees will bloom in their turn.”
—C. Northcote Parkinson (1909–1993)
“It is difficult even to choose the adjective
For this blank cold, this sadness without cause.
The great structure has become a minor house.
No turban walks across the lessened floors.
The greenhouse never so badly needed paint.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“The syntactic component of a grammar must specify, for each sentence, a deep structure that determines its semantic interpretation and a surface structure that determines its phonetic interpretation.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)