What is Cytoplasm?

About Cytoplasm:

• Cytoplasm is a thick solution that fills each cell and is enclosed by the cell membrane.
• It is mainly composed of water, salts and proteins.
• In eukaryotic cells (i.e., cells having a nucleus), the cytoplasm includes all of the material inside the cell but outside the nucleus, which contains its own watery substance called nucleoplasm.
• All of the organelles in eukaryotic cells are located in the cytoplasm. The cytoplasm helps to keep them in place.
  • Among such organelles are the mitochondria, which are the sites of energy production through ATP (adenosine triphosphate) synthesis;
  • the endoplasmic reticulum, the site of lipid and protein synthesis;
  • the Golgi apparatus, the site where proteins are modified, packaged, and sorted in preparation for transport to their cellular destinations;
  • lysosomes and peroxisomes, sacs of digestive enzymes that carry out the intracellular digestion of macromolecules such as lipids and proteins;
• The portion of the cytoplasm surrounding organelles is called cytosol, which is the liquid part of the cytoplasm.
• Cytoplasm is also the site of most metabolic activities in the cell, and it allows materials to pass easily throughout the cell.
• Although cytoplasm may appear to have no form or structure, it is actually highly organized.
  • A framework of protein scaffolds called the cytoskeleton provides the cytoplasm and the cell with their structure.
• Though prokaryotic cells do not have organelles (they do have ribosomes), they still have cytoplasm.