smooth endoplasmic reticulum
Last reviewed 01/2018
Smooth endoplasmic reticulum is a network of short, continuous tubes througout the cytoplasm in which there are no ribosomes on the membrane surfaces. It dyes with acid stains under the light microscope.
It functions to:
- package material for transport to the Golgi apparatus
- synthesize lipids and derivatives e.g. in adrenal cells, it contains the enzymes necessary for conversion of cholesterol to steroids
- detoxify drugs or foreign proteins, particularly in the liver
- compartmentalise cellular components e.g. the specialised sER of skeletal muscle, termed the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which sequesters calcium