| microsomes | Artifactual vesicles formed from the endoplasmic reticulum when cells are disrupted. They are isolated by differential centrifugation and are composed of three structural features: rough vesicles, smooth vesicles, and ribosomes. Numerous enzyme activities are associated with the microsomal fraction. (glick, glossary of biochemistry and molecular biology, 1990; from rieger et al., glossary of genetics: classical and molecular, 5th ed) (12 Dec 1998) |
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| microsomes, liver | In the hepatocyte, any of the vesicular fragments of endoplasmic reticulum formed after disruption and centrifugation of cells. (12 Dec 1998) |