Golgi Body

A Golgi body is a collection of membranes inside a cell that packages and transports substances made by the cell. All eukaryotic cells have one or more Golgi bodies that work closely with the endoplasmic reticulum (a network of membranes, or tubes, in a cell through which materials move). A eukaryotic cell is one with a distinct nucleus (such as a plant or animal cell).

Golgi bodies were named after Italian anatomist (a person specializing in the structure of animals) Camillo Golgi (1843–1926), who first saw them in brain cells late in the nineteenth century. Golgi was able to see these tiny organelles (or cell structures that have certain functions) because of his discovery of a particular cell stain. Golgi found that by staining nerve cells with silver nitrate, he was able to see details that were not otherwise visible. He was also able to make out all of the very fine extensions that branched off the Golgi bodies. Looking like a stack of flattened bags, these piles of membranes are usually found close by the nucleus and work closely with the cell's endoplasmic reticulum (which make proteins). Their function is to package the proteins made by the cell, and they literally wrap these proteins in membranes. The proteins then travel either to another part of the cell or to the cell membrane to be transferred outside the cell. Golgi bodies also work on any "unfinished" proteins that the endoplasmic reticulum has created. Sometimes these proteins need a bit more tinkering or finishing before storage or use, and it is the Golgi bodies that perform whatever chemical modifications are necessary. Golgi bodies are also called Golgi apparatus. They have also been referred to as the Golgi complex.

[See alsoCell; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Membrane ]