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Not to be confused with Lysozyme.

A lysosome (/ˈlaɪsəˌsoʊm/) is a membrane-bound organelle found in many animal cells.^[1] They are spherical vesicles that contain hydrolytic enzymes that can break down many kinds of biomolecules. A lysosome has a specific composition, of both its membrane proteins, and its lumenal proteins. The lumen’s pH (~4.5–5.0)^[2] is optimal for the enzymes involved in hydrolysis, analogous to the activity of the stomach. Besides degradation of polymers, the lysosome is involved in various cell processes, including secretion, plasma membrane repair, apoptosis, cell signaling, and energy metabolism.^[3]

Lysosomes digest materials taken into the cell and recycle intracellular materials. Step one shows material entering a food vacuole through the plasma membrane, a process known as endocytosis. In step two a lysosome with an active hydrolytic enzyme comes into the picture as the food vacuole moves away from the plasma membrane. Step three consists of the lysosome fusing with the food vacuole and hydrolytic enzymes entering the food vacuole. In the final step, step four, hydrolytic enzymes digest the food particles.^[4]

Lysosomes act as the waste disposal system of the cell by digesting used materials in the cytoplasm, from both inside and outside the cell. Material from outside the cell is taken up through endocytosis, while material from the inside of the cell is digested through autophagy.^[5] The sizes of the organelles vary greatly—the larger ones can be more than 10 times the size of the smaller ones.^[6] They were discovered and named by Belgian biologist Christian de Duve, who eventually received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974.

Lysosomes are known to contain more than 60 different enzymes, and have more than 50 membrane proteins.^[7][8] Enzymes of the lysosomes are synthesized in the rough endoplasmic reticulum and exported to the Golgi apparatus upon recruitment by a complex composed of CLN6 and CLN8 proteins.^[9][10] The enzymes are trafficked from the Golgi apparatus to lysosomes in small vesicles, which fuse with larger acidic vesicles. Enzymes destined for a lysosome are specifically tagged with the molecule mannose 6-phosphate, so that they are properly sorted into acidified vesicles.^[11][12]

In 2009, Marco Sardiello and co-workers discovered that the synthesis of most lysosomal enzymes and membrane proteins is controlled by transcription factor EB (TFEB), which promotes the transcription of nuclear genes.^[13][14] Mutations in the genes for these enzymes are responsible for more than 50 different human genetic disorders, which are collectively known as lysosomal storage diseases. These diseases result from an accumulation of specific substrates, due to the inability to brea