Most proteins are synthesized by ribosomes in the cytoplasm. This process is known as protein biosynthesis. Biosynthesis (also called biogenesis) is an enzyme-catalyzed process in cells of living organisms by which substrates are converted to more complex products (also simply known as protein translation). Some proteins, such as those to be incorporated in membranes (known as membrane proteins), are transported into the "rough" endoplasmic reticulum (ER) during synthesis. This process can be followed by transportation and processing in the Golgi apparatus. From the Golgi, membrane proteins can move to the plasma membrane, to other sub-cellular compartments, or they can be secreted from the cell. The ER and Golgi can be thought of as the "membrane protein synthesis compartment" and the "membrane protein processing compartment", respectively. There is a semi-constant flux of proteins through these compartments. ER and Golgi-resident proteins associate with other proteins but remain in their respective compartments. Other proteins "flow" through the ER and Golgi to the plasma membrane. Motor proteins transport membrane protein-containing vesicles along cytoskeletal tracks to distant parts of cells such as axon terminals.
Some proteins that are made in the cytoplasm contain structural features that target them for transport into mitochondria or the nucleus. Some mitochondrial proteins are made inside mitochondria and are coded for by mitochondrial DNA. In plants, chloroplasts also make some cell proteins.
Extracellular and cell surface proteins destined to be degraded can move back into intracellular compartments upon being incorporated into endocytosed vesicles some of which fuse with lysosomes where the proteins are broken down to their individual amino acids. The degradation of some membrane proteins begins while still at the cell surface when they are cleaved by secretases. Proteins that function in the cytoplasm are often degraded by proteasomes.
Other cellular processes
- Active transport and Passive transport - Movement of molecules into and out of cells.
- Autophagy - The process whereby cells "eat" their own internal components or microbial invaders.
- Adhesion - Holding together cells and tissues.
- Reproduction - Made possible by the combination of sperm made in the testiculi(contained in some male cells nucleus') and the egg made in the ovary(contained in the nucleus of a female cell). When the sperm breaks through the hard outer shell of the egg a new cell embryo is formed, which, in humans, grows to full size in 9 months.
- Cell movement: Chemotaxis, Contraction, cilia and flagella.
- Cell signaling - Regulation of cell behavior by signals from outside.
- DNA repair and Cell death
- Metabolism: Glycolysis, respiration, Photosynthesis
- Transcription and mRNA splicing - gene expression.
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