The Golgi apparatus function is to collect, modify, package, and distribute and . It is sometimes called the shipping and receiving department of the cell.

It is shaped like a stack of bowls with secretory vesicles on their rims.

Specifically, the Golgi apparatus functions by modifying and packaging proteins and lipids into secretory vesicles: small, spherically shaped sacs that bud from its ends. These vesicles often migrate to and merge with the plasma membrane, releasing their contents outside of the cell.

The Golgi apparatus is present in larger numbers and is most highly developed in cells that secrete protein, such as the cells of the salivary glands or the pancreas.

The Golgi (gol’je) apparatus was named for Camillo Golgi (1843–1926), an Italian histologist).