What would happen if lysosomes were not in the cell?
Everyone has lysosomes, they are necessary for us surviving past
the earliest stages of life. However, if the lysosomes aren't
working properly, then several problems occur. There are roughly 40
lysosomal storage diseases, all characterised by the lack of
hydrolytic enzymes that give lysomsomes their function and the
build up of polysaccaides and lipids that lysosomes are given the
task of digesting or recycling.
One of the most famous lysosomal storage diseases is Tay-Sachs
disease. In Tay-Sachs, lysosomes cannot prcess a certain glycolipid
called ganglioside GM2. This builds up on nervous tissue and
results in the dimentia, paralysis, blindness, and eventually death
that is classic in any infant suffereing from the disease.