What Does lysosomes Mean
The etymology of the term lysosome leads us to the English lysosome , in turn derived from a Greek word formed by lýsis (which can be translated as "solution" ) and sôma (that is, "body" ).
Lysosomes are organelles of cells formed by a membranous vesicle . In this vesicle there are enzymes that are involved in the intracellular digestion process.
Spherical in shape, lysosomes house the molecules responsible for the degradation of intracellular material of both internal and external origin. Although they appear in all the cells of animals , these structures present different characteristics according to each case.
The proteases , the glycosidases , the nucleases and lipasasas are the main enzymes can be found in a lysosome. They are able to digest what enters the cell through phagocytosis, such as bacteria , and also allow the recycling of other cellular organelles. This second characteristic enables the continuous replacement of the organelles thanks to autophagy.
It is called lysosomal disease , on the other hand, a disorder that is generated from a problem in the lysosomes, especially due to a problem with the enzymes. The cause of this group of diseases can be the uncontrolled release of these substances in the cytoplasm (the liquid that is inside the cells) or the dysfunction of one of the enzymes.
When enzymes are released into the cytoplasm without control, a process known as cell lysis takes place ; it is about the rupture of the membrane, both cells and bacteria, with the consequent expulsion of internal material.
The drop , for example, arises from the excessive production of uric acid. This leads to the accumulation of urate crystals in the joints, which the cells engulf. For this reason, the crystals accumulate in the lysosomes until the organelle breaks, releasing enzymes in the cytosol.
We can also talk about leukodystrophies , certain diseases that are found in the lysosomal group. They are genetic in nature and are characterized by poor functioning of lysosome enzymes. Since the lysosome must degrade and recycle nutrients , if it does not function normally, it accumulates them and this leads to different disorders. Two examples of leukodystrophies are metachromatic and Krabbe disease .
The lysosomal storage diseases (also called deposit or lysosomal hoarding ) are a group of hereditary, who exhibit symptoms earlier during childhood or adolescence. Among its consequences we can highlight the shortening of the patient's life expectancy and mental disability to different degrees.
The causes are the malfunction of lysosome enzymes, which leads to the cell death of substances that cannot be metabolized, and a mutation of the genes that are responsible for coding the enzymes.
Although this group of diseases is not very frequent, if we take them all into account in a single statistic, we can say that an average of 5,000 to 7,000 affects a person, which translates into 250 cases for a community of a million individuals.
Depending on the biochemical defect and the substance that the enzymes wrongly accumulate in the lysosomes, it is possible to establish the following classification of diseases:
* sphingolipidosis : Gaucher, Fabry, Niemann-Pick, Farber disease, etc.;
* mucopolysaccharidosis : Hurler, Scheie, Sanfilippo, Hunter syndrome , etc.;
* by glycogen deposition : Pompe or Glycogenosis type II;
* glycoproteinosis : sialidosis, mannosidosis, fucosidosis, Schindler's disease, aspartiglucosaminuria, etc.