Membrane-Bound Organelles in Eukaryotic Cells
- Cells have membranes that allow them to establish and maintain internal environments that are different from their external environments
- Within cells, there are membrane-bound organelles that achieve compartmentalization on a smaller scale
- This allows separate metabolic reactions to take place in different regions of the cell
- Membranes contain membrane proteins, many of which are enzymes that perform their catalytic role at the membrane or just to one side of it
- For example, many of the membrane proteins inside a mitochondrion catalyze the reactions of oxidative phosphorylation
- For details on the various membrane-bound organelles that enable compartmentalization within a cell, see Topic 2.1 Cell Structure: Subcellular Components
Membrane Proteins as Enzymes Diagram
Membrane proteins have many roles, including as enzymes on the inner surface of a cell (shown bottom left).
Membrane Protein Inside a Mitochondrion Diagram
The enzyme ATP synthase, an important enzyme in the pathways of respiration, and its location in the inner mitochondrial membrane.