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What is the difference between ribosome and lysosome?
Posted October 19, 2020
Answer
Ribosomes and lysosomes are both found within cells where they perform vital cellular functions. That’s basically where the similarities end. Here’s how these two structures are different from each other.
| Ribosomes | Lysosomes |
| Macromolecules, not enclosed by a membrane | Membrane-enclosed organelle |
| Consists of two subunits of different sizes | Consists of one unit |
| Size range: 20 nanometer to 30 nanometer | Size range: 0.1 micrometer to 1.2 micrometer |
| Found in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells | Found only in eukaryotic cells |
| May be scattered unevenly in the cytoplasm or attached to the rough endoplasmic reticulum within the cytoplasm | Distributed evenly in the cytoplasm |
| Composed of rRNA and ribosomal proteins | Composed of membrane proteins and digestive enzymes |
| Plays a key role in synthesis of proteins and translation of mRNAs | Plays a key role in intracellular digestion and destruction of dead cells |
Additional resources
Cell Navigator® Lysosome Staining Kit *Green Fluorescence with 405 nm Excitation*