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Why are lysosomes called suicidal bags of a cell? |
Lysosomes are another organelle which is mostly found in animal cells; very rarely in plant cells. It is also called 'suicidal bags' because they are responsible for digestion of cell's bio-molecules, old cell parts and micro-organisms. The main function is the break down and removing of old parts of the cell or microorganism. The lysosomes fuses with membrane bound vesicle that arises from any of these pathways - endocytosis, phagocytosis or autophagocytosis. These vesicles are referred to as endosomes, phagosomes and autophagosomes respectively. These endosomes fuses with lysosomes (primary lysosomes) and forms secondary lysosomes (sometimes referred to as endolysosomes). The bio-molecules are further broken down into smaller forms like amino acids, monosaccharides, nucleotides and fatty acids which are then recycled in the cell. |