noun
- A membrane-bound compartment inside a cell that receives and sorts materials taken in from outside the cell during endocytosis.
Usage: biology; cell biology
Examples
- Endosomes play a crucial role in transporting nutrients and other molecules into the cell.
- After endocytosis, vesicles fuse with early endosomes to begin the sorting process.
- The cell uses endosomes to recycle proteins and lipids back to the cell membrane.
- Late endosomes eventually mature into lysosomes, which break down cellular waste.
- Researchers studied how viruses hijack the endosome pathway to enter host cells.