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Definition

noun, plural: vesicles

(general) A small sac or cyst containing fluid or gas.

(cell biology) A bubble-like membranous structure that stores and transports cellular products, and digests metabolic wastes within the cell; an intracellular membranous sac that is separated from the cytosol by at least one lipid bilayer.

(physiology) A membranous pouch within an axon terminal that stores and releases neurotransmitter

(pathology) Small fluid-filled lesion or blister formed in or beneath the skin.

(mycology) In fungi, a bubble-like sac produced by zoosporangium, and from where zoospores mature and are eventually released.

(phycology) A floating gas-filled bubble or bladder-like structure in algal cell.

Supplement

Word origin: from Latin vēsīcula, diminutive of vēsīca, bladder, blister.

Related phrases: synaptic vesicle, auditory vesicle, optic vesicle, seminal vesicle.