cytoplasm

Biologist

2022

We explain what the cytoplasm is and the regions into which it is divided. In addition, its different functions and how is its structure.

The cytoplasm occupies the area between the cell nucleus and the plasma membrane.

What is the cytoplasm?

It is called cytoplasm to the interior of the cells (protoplasm), which occupies the area between the cell nucleus and the plasma membrane. It is a colloidal dispersion of a fluid called cytosol or halioplasm, with a granular appearance and very fine in composition. In it are the various organelles of the cell and many of their molecular reactions take place.

The cytosol is composed of 70% water, without form or structure stable, and inside is the cytoskeleton: a set of filaments of protein origin that gives internal order to the cell and allows its movement, connecting its different corners to the nucleus of the cell.

Commonly, the cytoplasm can be divided into two regions:

  • Ectoplasm. The outermost region of it, close to the plasma membrane, and with a more gelatinous texture. It is usually involved in cell movement.
  • Endoplasm The innermost region of the cytoplasm, organized around the nucleus, and where most of the cellular organelles are.

The cytoplasm is common to both eukaryotic cells What prokaryotes, although they contain different types of organelles.

Cytoplasm function

The cytoplasm allows the mobility of organelles and their replication.

The cytoplasm fulfills various functions, the most elementary of which is to constitute the interior of the cell, its “body”. In addition, the different cellular organelles are housed there and communication occurs between them, and various cellular metabolic reactions take place, many of which occur in the endoplasmic reticulum.

At the same time, the cytoplasm allows the mobility of organelles and their replication in the event of cell division, and it is together with the plasma membrane the last thing to separate during the process of mitosis.

Cytoplasm structure

The cytoplasm is the "body" of the cell and contains its organelles.

The cytoplasm contains the cell's organelles, which are usually:

  • Core. In eukaryotic cells, there is a well-defined nucleus that houses all the genetic material and plays a key role in the cell reproduction. The nucleus is wrapped in a membrane in turn and is surrounded by nucleoplasm, thus allowing the exchange of matter with the cytoplasm. Prokaryotic cells, on the other hand, do not have a nucleus.
  • Plasma membrane. It is a membrane with selective permeability, which covers the cell and separates its inside from the outside, giving entry to desired substances and exit to metabolic waste.
  • Cellular wall. The vegetables cells and of themushrooms They have a rigid cell wall, outside the plasma membrane, composed of cellulose (plants) or chitin (fungi).
  • Mitochondria. They are the energy centers of the cell, where the synthesis of the ATP (Adenosine triphosphate, the chemical energy molecule), using nutrients from the environment. This is known as cellular respiration.
  • Chloroplasts The plants make photosynthesis, so your cells have chloroplasts - organelles that contain chlorophyll for energy from the sunlight, and that gives them their customary green color.
  • Lysosomes They fulfill the function of degrading the molecular material that enters the cell (heterophagy) or produced by itself (autophagy), in what is known as cellular digestion.
  • Golgi apparatus. Cell-related animals and vegetables, it acts as a transport channel for proteins and other substances, through a system of vesicles that goes into and out of the cytoplasm.
  • Endoplasmic reticulum. It is a series of interconnected, flattened tubules and sacs made from fatty acids. It is classified into two different domains: the rough endoplasmic reticulum, covered with ribosomes to carry out the synthesis of protein of the cell; and the smooth endoplasmic reticulum, responsible for the synthesis of lipids, the absorption and release of calcium from the cell and other molecular functions.
  • Centriole. It is a cylindrical organelle, made up of three triplets of microtubules that belong to the cytoskeleton, located in the cytoplasm (in the diplosome). These ducts serve for transport between organelles and as a guiding axis for the processes of mitosis or cell division.
  • Chromatin This is the name given to the set of DNA and other proteins that are in the nucleus itself, that is, the cellular genetic material.
  • Vacuole. These are deposits of enzymes, sugars, proteins or Water, which are used for storage and various processes by the cell. In plant cells there is only one, large, in the center of the cell; animals, on the other hand, have several small vacuoles in the cytoplasm.
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