Why would I rather call lysosomes recyclers? Yeah, they aren’t just scavengers!!
Channel: Decoded Medicine
Date: 2022-01-29

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THE SCAVENGERS

Lysosomes are nicknamed ‘SCAVENGERS OF THE CELL’ as they provide an intracellular digestive system that allows the cell to digest substances such as:
Damaged cellular structures 
Food particles that have been ingested by the cell, and 
Unwanted matter such as bacteria. 
These substances are engulfed by the lysosomes by means of phagocytosis, a type of vesicular transport mechanism. Inside the lysosomes, they get broken down/ digested by the action of certain enzymes.
Each lysosome consists of more than 40 different hydrolytic (digestive) enzymes.This is the reason behind its intracellular digestive actions. Specific enzymes help digest specific components of the cell. For example, the enzyme RNAse helps digest RNA, DNAse helps digest DNA and so on.

THE RECYCLING CENTERS

Recent advances in technology and detailed learning of the cells have identified lysosomes to be more of recyclers than just scavengers. The lysosomes engulf large substances and break down the macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, and complex lipids present in them into their respective micromolecules i.e., amino acids, monosaccharides, and free fatty acids. These micromolecules are then transported out of lysosomes into the cytoplasm of the cell via specific exporters in its membrane. These micromolecules are then reutilized for energy homeostasis or in biosynthetic pathways. Thus, the lysosomes function as the recycling centers of the cell.

Lysosomal Diseases
When a lysosomal enzyme is congenitally absent, the lysosomes become engorged with the material the enzyme normally degrades. This eventually leads to one of the lysosomal storage diseases. These diseases are rare, but they are serious and can be fatal.

The basic causes of lysosomal enzyme deficiencies are genetic defects. Research studies show promising effects of gene therapy on treating certain lysosomal storage disorders such as Gaucher and Fabry diseases.