The endoplasmic reticulum is a multifold membranous structure within eukaryotic cells which plays a major role in the synthesis of the complex molecules required by the cell and the organism as a whole.There are two types of endoplasmic reticulum: rough endoplasmic reticulum and smooth endoplasmic reticulum.
The ribosomes on the rough endoplasmic reticulum manufacture proteins.
The smooth endoplasmic reticulum plays a major role in synthesizing lipids by means of enzymes embedded in these smooth membranes. It produces the phospholipids and cholesterol used in membrane formation, and along with the membrane proteins produced by the rough ER it can synthesize more membrane for itself, for the Golgi complex, the cell membrane, lysosomes, and others.