Which cellular organelle is responsible for housing hydrolytic enzymes that break down biomolecules?
Solution
Correct Answer: Option A
The correct answer is Lysosome.
- The lysosome is a membrane-bound cellular organelle that contains a variety of hydrolytic enzymes.
- These enzymes are crucial for the breakdown of biomolecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates. Lysosomes function as the cell’s digestive system, degrading both materials taken in from outside the cell through endocytosis and obsolete or damaged organelles within the cell (a process called autophagy).
- This ability to hydrolyze complex molecules into simpler ones helps maintain cellular health and recycling of cellular components.
Other options explained:
- Mitochondrion: Primarily responsible for energy production via ATP synthesis through cellular respiration.
- Peroxisome: Involved in the breakdown of very long chain fatty acids and detoxification of harmful substances, but not primarily in hydrolytic digestion.
- Golgi apparatus: Functions mainly in the modification, sorting, and packaging of proteins and lipids but does not contain hydrolytic enzymes for degradation of biomolecules.
Reference: Ganong’s Review of Medical Physiology, 26th Edition, Chapter 2 - Cell Structure and Function / Page 20