Fibrillar Components

As the largest organelle, and the first to be discovered [1], the nucleus is the control center of the cell. Given its name by Scottish Botanist, Robert Brown, the nucleus is responsible for all cellular processes in eukaryotic cells and usually fills approximately 10% of the cell's volume [1]. The reason for this organelle's large size is because of the DNA it contains. In fact, each human contains approximately six feet of DNA which is tightly packed and highly organized by proteins, the majority of it stored in the nucleus [1]. With this DNA, the nucleus produces needed proteins which are then used for cell growth, reproduction, and the overall functioning of the cell [2]. Furthermore, the nucleus is bound by a double layer membrane called the nuclear envelope. Similar to the plasma membrane, the …show more content…
Nucleoli are comprised of DNA, RNA, and proteins and disappear during prophase of cell division only to reassemble during telophase [5]. In addition, nucleoli consist of two separate parts: the granular component and the fibrillar component. The fibrillar component contains a large quantity of RNA polymerase I, which transcribes ribosomal RNA, and the granular component is where the later stages of ribosome production take place [5]. Besides its function to produce ribosomes, some scientists believe that the nucleolus also plays a role in cell aging [1]; however, this has not been proven. Deoxyribose nucleic acid, also known as DNA, is made up of genetic information contained in smaller repeating nucleotides [6]. DNA determines what proteins need to be produced in the cell and is mainly found in the control center of the cell, the nucleus, for this reason [2]. However, the amount of DNA that each cell contains is too much to fit into the nucleus without being compacted. To compact the double helix of DNA, the double helix wraps around proteins called histones to form chromatin