Thickness of a sheet and diameter of a tubule in endoplasmic reticulum

Range 60 - 100 nm
Organism Eukaryotes
Reference Shibata Y, Voeltz GK, Rapoport TA. Rough sheets and smooth tubules. Cell. 2006 Aug 11 126(3):435-9. p.435 left column bottom paragraphPubMed ID16901774
Comments "ER sheets are relatively flat areas where the membrane extends for many microns with little membrane curvature. Although the nuclear envelope is spherical, the nucleus is so large that its surface can also be considered as a flat ER sheet. In contrast, ER tubules are long cylindrical units with high membrane curvature in cross-section (reviewed in Voeltz et al., 2002). Both sheet and tubular domains are present in all eukaryotes, from plants to humans (reviewed in Staehelin, 1997), but they have various organizations in different cells and species. In yeast, the peripheral ER (that is, any ER other than the nuclear envelope) is located close to the cell cortex and has only a few tubules connecting it to the nuclear envelope- in higher eukaryotes, the peripheral ER extends throughout the entire volume of the cytoplasm. Regardless of the cell type or subcellular location, the thickness of a sheet and the diameter of a tubule is typically 60–100 nm. This conserved structural regularity of the domains suggests that both sheets and tubules are being shaped actively."
Entered by Uri M
ID 111388