Lysosomes With Lower pH

[mjjdm1985]

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This is a problem in an ExamKrackers bio book and I don't completely understand it. Could anyone help?

Question: When a primary lysosome fuses with a food vesicle to become a secondary lysosome:

Answer: It's pH drops via active pumping of protons into its interior.

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I understand that pH drops as protons are added, but I don't understand (or possibly don't remember) the exact reason why protons will be added to the lysosome from this fusion.

 

[BellJS]

This is a problem in an ExamKrackers bio book and I don't completely understand it. Could anyone help?

Question: When a primary lysosome fuses with a food vesicle to become a secondary lysosome:

Answer: It's pH drops via active pumping of protons into its interior.

----

I understand that pH drops as protons are added, but I don't understand (or possibly don't remember) the exact reason why protons will be added to the lysosome from this fusion.

I think the "why" is difficult to answer as that might get into the philosophy of things, but maybe you should review the function of lysosomes and how they are specialized for such a function (degradation and digestion).

Lysosome maturation(primary to secondary etc) and the degradation of interior contents increases with the activation of p-type ATPases. I would ask you to review endosomes (early,late, recycling) to make this clearer. Go through the endo/exo cytosis pathway to get a grasp of the big picture.

 

[IndianVercetti]

function of lysosomes is to degrade or breakdown components. Remember that a lysosome is NOT just a vacuole to simply hold things - it must break them down. Generally acidic enzymes degrade compounds (such as hydrolases). That is the key thing to know for this question. That answer should have struck you as correct, since these lysosome enzymes become active by the decrease of pH.