MadSci Network: Cell Biology
Query:

Re: What does the Golgi body mean?(Please put it in a a easy to read form)

Date: Mon Jan 8 19:22:40 2001
Posted By: Sarah Tegen, Grad student, Molecular and Cell Biology, UC-Berkeley
Area of science: Cell Biology
ID: 978477011.Cb
Message:

Hello Stephanie,
You've asked a really good question!  And hopefully I can answer it in non-
scientific terms.  

Scientifically you might have read that the golgi body is the place where 
proteins made in the cell get processed to their mature form.  What the heck 
does that mean?


Think about the golgi as a warehouse like amazon.com where books get shipped 
from.  And say you want to order a gift (protein) to be sent to a friend.  
What has to happen to the book in order to get it to your friend?  It has to 
be wrapped, a card attached, packed for shipping, addressed to your friend, 
etc, and a different person would perform each of these tasks.  Think about 
the golgi in a similar manner.  A protein gets into the golgi (from the 
rough endoplasmic reticulum), but it can't get to the right place in the 
cell without some modifications, instructions or a cellular address.  The 
golgi takes care of these things.  And different parts of the golgi 
membranes each have different functions, just like different people in a 
warehouse have different jobs.

That's really all it is. I hope this helps.  Feel free to email me at 
tegen@alum.mit.edu if you have more questions about the golgi, or if this 
doesn't make any sense to you.

Good luck and keep thinking about science!

-Sarah





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