Do the smooth and rough ER work together? If they do, what function do they create together? Lastly, What would happen if this cooperation between the organelles or cell structures ceased to exist?

Answer 1

Good question! The short answer is..not really. They don't work together in the sense that the rough ER is producing metabolic products that are being modified or used by the smooth ER (or vice versa). That being said, these two organelles are often not totally discrete in the cell--meaning they kind of merge with one another and the ER transitions from being "rough" to "smooth."

As you may know the visual rough-ness of rough ER is produced by the abundant presence of ribosomes embedded in the ER membrane. As you may also already know, the primary function of ribosomes is producing proteins. This difference in structure between rough and smooth ER -- the presence or absence of ribosomes -- gives us a huge clue as to the difference in function between these types of ER. Rough ER is mostly concerned with producing, packaging, and preparing proteins for transport to other parts of the cell. Smooth ER, lacking in those ribosomes, is concerned with synthesizing lipids, breaking down potentially harmful cellular waste products, and acting as a reservoir for Ca+ ions.

I hope that answers your question regarding the cooperation of these two types of ER. As for your final question regarding "what would happen if cooperation between organelles ceased to exist?"... Well, if we are talking about ALL cooperation between organelles, then it would be totally catastrophic for all cell functions! For that matter, even if one seemingly tiny process in one organelle of a cell is disrupted the entire cell function can fall to pieces. A great example of this is Ricin, a toxin found in the castor bean plant. This toxin binds with a single carbohydrate molecule found in the RNA of a ribosome and breaks that molecule's bond with another molecule. And just by snipping this one little bond, the ribosome is rendered totally useless. It stops making proteins and the cell dies because proteins are needed for virtually every function in the cell.

So if the ER stopped working the cell would be in big trouble. If you are interested in a more ER-specific scenario of what might happen, feel free to message me and I can provide that.