Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2026
16:43
Visualization of Endoplasmic Reticulum Subdomains in Cultured Cells
Published on: February 18, 2014
Stacked endoplasmic reticulum sheets are connected by helicoidal membrane motifs
Mark Terasaki1, Tom Shemesh, Narayanan Kasthuri
1Department of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030, USA. terasaki@uchc.edu
Cell
|July 23, 2013
Summary
Stacked endoplasmic reticulum (ER) sheets form a continuous membrane system connected by helical ramps, resembling a parking garage. This structure optimizes space for protein synthesis in cells.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Structural Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) forms stacked membrane sheets, crucial for efficient secretory protein synthesis.
- The mechanism underlying the stacking of ER sheets remains poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the three-dimensional structure of stacked ER sheets.
- To understand how ER sheets achieve dense packing within cellular constraints.
Main Methods:
- Advanced electron microscopy techniques, including improved staining and automated ultrathin sectioning.
- Analysis of stacked ER sheets in mouse neuronal and salivary gland cells.
- Development of a theoretical model to explain observed structures.
Main Results:
- Stacked ER sheets form a continuous membrane system.
- Sheets are interconnected by twisted membrane surfaces with helical edges (left- or right-handed).
- The structure resembles a parking garage with helicoidal ramps connecting levels.
Conclusions:
- The helical connections minimize the elastic energy of ER sheet edges and surfaces.
- This unique structure facilitates dense packing of ER sheets, maximizing space for polysomes and protein synthesis.
- The findings provide insights into the physical principles governing organelle organization.
More Related Videos
07:49Spontaneous Formation and Rearrangement of Artificial Lipid Nanotube Networks as a Bottom-Up Model for Endoplasmic Reticulum
Published on: January 22, 2019
09:12Three-dimensional Characterization of Interorganelle Contact Sites in Hepatocytes using Serial Section Electron Microscopy
Published on: June 9, 2022
Related Concept Videos
01:43The Endoplasmic Reticulum
The endoplasmic reticulum or ER makes up for more than half of the membranes in a cell and accounts for 10% of total cell volume. It is also the primary protein and lipid synthesis factory for most cell organelles, such as the Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, secretory vesicles, and the plasma membrane. Despite being the most extensive and functionally complex subcellular organelle, ER was the last to be discovered. After years of deliberation, Keith Porter and George Palade in the year 1954,...
01:43The Endoplasmic Reticulum
The endoplasmic reticulum or ER makes up for more than half of the membranes in a cell and accounts for 10% of total cell volume. It is also the primary protein and lipid synthesis factory for most cell organelles, such as the Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, secretory vesicles, and the plasma membrane. Despite being the most extensive and functionally complex subcellular organelle, ER was the last to be discovered. After years of deliberation, Keith Porter and George Palade in the year 1954,...
01:49Golgi Apparatus
As they leave the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER), properly folded and assembled proteins are selectively packaged into vesicles. These vesicles are transported by microtubule-based motor proteins and fuse together to form vesicular tubular clusters, subsequently arriving at the Golgi apparatus, a eukaryotic endomembrane organelle that often has a distinctive ribbon-like appearance.
01:09Golgi Apparatus
Properly folded and assembled proteins are selectively packaged into vesicles that exit the ER. Motor proteins transport these vesicles to the Golgi apparatus for adding modifications that make these proteins functional at their destination.
The Golgi apparatus is a eukaryotic organelle that has a distinctive ribbon-like appearance. It is a primary sorting and dispatch station for cargo arriving from the ER. Newly arriving vesicles enter the cis face of the Golgi, closest to the ER, and are...
The Golgi apparatus is a eukaryotic organelle that has a distinctive ribbon-like appearance. It is a primary sorting and dispatch station for cargo arriving from the ER. Newly arriving vesicles enter the cis face of the Golgi, closest to the ER, and are...
01:09Golgi Apparatus
Properly folded and assembled proteins are selectively packaged into vesicles that exit the ER. Motor proteins transport these vesicles to the Golgi apparatus for adding modifications that make these proteins functional at their destination.
The Golgi apparatus is a eukaryotic organelle that has a distinctive ribbon-like appearance. It is a primary sorting and dispatch station for cargo arriving from the ER. Newly arriving vesicles enter the cis face of the Golgi, closest to the ER, and are...
The Golgi apparatus is a eukaryotic organelle that has a distinctive ribbon-like appearance. It is a primary sorting and dispatch station for cargo arriving from the ER. Newly arriving vesicles enter the cis face of the Golgi, closest to the ER, and are...
01:39Endoplasmic Reticulum
The Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) in eukaryotic cells is a substantial network of interconnected membranes with diverse functions, from calcium storage to biomolecule synthesis. A primary component of the endomembrane system, the ER manufactures phospholipids critical for membrane function throughout the cell. Additionally, the two distinct regions of the ER specialize in the manufacture of specific lipids and proteins.