Organelle Involvement in Protein Synthesis

Protein Synthesis and Organelles

Protein synthesis assembles amino acids into a polypeptide chain, which is then folded and modified into a protein.

It consists of two phases, transcription and translation:

• Transcription is when a gene is transcribed (copied) to produce mRNA (messenger RNA).
• Translation is when ribosomes make a polypeptide (protein) chain by ‘reading’ the bases on mRNA to assemble amino acids in the correct order.

However, it takes many organelles working together to produce a fully functioning protein.

The order of organelles involved (usually) is:

Nucleolus → Nuclear Membrane → Ribosome → Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum → Vesicle → Golgi Apparatus → Secretory Vesicle → Cell Surface Membrane