Golgi apparatus, cholesterol synthesis

Postulated scheme for the synthesis, assembly, and secretion of VLDL by a hepatocyte (liver cell). (1) Synthesis The apoproteins, phospholipid, triacylglycerol, cholesterol, and cholesteryl esters are synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum. (2) Assembly These components are assembled into a prelipoprotein particle in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. (3) Processing The particle moves to the Golgi apparatus, where modification of the apoproteins occurs. 

Peroxisomes are small granules arranged in clusters around the smooth ER and glycogen stores. They contain about 50 enzymes, some of which are used in respiration, purine catabolism and alcohol metabolism. They are responsible for about 20% of the oxygen consumption in the liver via a respiratory pathway that produces heat rather than ATP as its product. They differ from lysosomes in that they are not formed from outgrowths of the Golgi apparatus but are self-replicating, rather like mitochondria. They also play an important role in the metabolism of fatty acids as well as cholesterol and bile acid synthesis. 

A FIGURE 18-1 Overview of synthesis of major membrane lipids and their movement into and out of cells. Membrane lipids (e.g., phospholipids, cholesterol) are synthesized through complex multienzyme pathways that begin with sets of water-soluble enzymes and intermediates in the cytosol (D) that are then converted by membrane-associated enzymes into water-insoluble products embedded in the membrane (B), usually at the interface between the cytosolic leaflet of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the cytosol. Membrane lipids can move from the ER to other organelles (H), such as the Golgi apparatus or the mitochondrion, by either vesicle-mediated or other poorly defined mechanisms. Lipids can move into or out of cells by plasma-membrane transport proteins or by lipoproteins. Transport proteins similar to those described in Chapter 7 that move lipids (0) include sodium-coupled symporters that mediate import CD36 and SR-BI superfamily proteins that can mediate... 

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi apparatus Inactivation of the ER-specihc enzyme acyl coenzyme A cholesterol-O-acyl transferase extensive swelling decreased synthesis and transport of plasma membrane proteins (which occurs in rough ER and Golgi apparatus)... 

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