Level of life
Cell
The smallest unit that can live on its own. Every living thing is made of one or more cells.
Endoplasmic reticulum
Makes and folds proteins and lipids for membranes and export.Source: Alberts et al., 2002Source: Cooper, 2000Source: Palade, 1975
Also called ER, rough ER, smooth ER.
Structure
How Endoplasmic reticulum connects
Endoplasmic reticulum is part of
Endoplasmic reticulum is related to
Structure
Golgi apparatus
Modifies, sorts and ships proteins and lipids.
Structure
Ribosomes
Build proteins by reading messenger RNA.
Studied in
Your progress
Sources & further reading
The explanations on this page are our own summaries of these sources. Follow a link to read the original; if anything here disagrees with it, the original wins. How we choose and check sources.
Molecular Biology of the Cell (4th edition) (opens the original in a new tab)
Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, et al. (2002). Garland Science.
Free to read on NCBI Bookshelf. Standard reference for cell structure and molecular biology.
TextbookEducationalThe Cell: A Molecular Approach (2nd edition) (opens the original in a new tab)
Cooper GM (2000). Sinauer Associates.
Free to read on NCBI Bookshelf.
TextbookEducationalIntracellular aspects of the process of protein synthesis (opens the original in a new tab)
Palade G (1975). Science 189:347-358.
Nobel lecture on the secretory pathway through the ER and Golgi.
Peer-reviewedReview