cytology
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cytoplasm, the semifluid substance of a cell that is external to the nuclear membrane and internal to the cellular membrane, sometimes described as the nonnuclear content of protoplasm. In eukaryotes (i.e., cells having a nucleus), the cytoplasm contains all of the organelles.

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 cytoskeleton, a network of protein fibres that give shape and support to the cell; and cytosol, the fluid mass that surrounds the various organelles.

Mechanism of cellular autophagy, illustration for Nobel Prize Award in Medicine 2016. 3D illustration showing fusion of lysosome with autophagosome containing microbes and molecules.
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Meg Matthias.