Vesicle

From The School of Biomedical Sciences Wiki
Revision as of 12:45, 10 January 2011 by 100234350 (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

A vesicle is a membrane-bound sac found in many cells, which is formed when part of a compartment membrane buds off[1]. Vesicles are vital for the taking up, release and transport of molecules within and between cells. Many cells take up molecules via receptor-mediated endocytosis, the process by which binding of a particular protein or other complex causes invagination of the membrane, which eventually breaks off forming a vesicle containing the desired protein or substance[1]. The opposite of this process is exocytosis, whereby a vesicle fuses to a membrane, releasing its contents[1].


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Alberts et al (2008), Molecular Biology of the Cell, 5th edition, New York: Garland Science, pg 701 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "null" defined multiple times with different content