This is an extensive organelle composed of a greatly convoluted but flattish sealed sac that is continuous with the nuclear membrane. It is called ‘rough’ endoplasmic reticulum because it is studded on its outer surface (the surface in contact with the cytosol) with ribosomes. These are called membrane bound ribosomes and are firmly attached to the outer cytosolic side of the ER About 13 million ribosomes are present on the RER in the average liver cell. Rough ER is found throughout the cell but the density is higher near the nucleus and the Golgi apparatus.