Endoplasmic Reticulum Rough and Smooth ER

Welcome to MooMooMath and Science. In this video I would like to talk about the endoplasmic reticulum also called the ER. The ER is found in both plants and animals but not in bacteria cells. If you take a look at the ER you will notice that it consists of folded membranes and looks like a transportation system. The ER is located near the nucleus and helps the cell transport important materials throughout the cell. Let's look more closely at the function of the endoplasmic reticulum. First there are two types of ER, rough and smooth. Rough ER or RER is located very close to the nucleus. Rough ER gets its look because the tiny protein factories called ribosomes are embedded in its membranes. The rough ER produces proteins. Some of these proteins will be transported by the ER to the Golgi apparatus. Others will move across the ER to other parts of the cell or will be packaged in small sacs which will pinch off from the ER and travel throughout the cell. Smooth ER looks smooth because it does not have any ribosomes. It has a different job than the rough ER. The smooth ER produces important chemicals called enzymes. Some of these enzymes will pinch off in a vesicle and travel to the Golgi apparatus. The smooth ER also produces lipids which are important fats used by the cell. The smooth ER will transport these lipids throughout the cell or will package the lipids in sacs called vesicles and release them into the cytoplasm. In summary, the ER is a transportation system used by the cell to create and transport proteins, enzymes, and lipids throughout the cell.