Vacuole here, and I may not be on the hunt for wonderful antiques and valuables in abandoned lockers, but I can be found bound inside of plant and animal cells. My membrane (or Tonoplast) can hold water, and other organic molecules and waste, I can typically store these materials until I am enlarged to capacity, when I get full, I either transport and release my contents or keep to myself until needed. My size can not really be pinpointed because I am typically more square in plants, where my talents to create the needed turgor pressure against cell walls when completely filled are used, and similarly in my more round state of an animal cell such as a capillary.
But storage is not all that my job entails! I am a type of guardian for the cell. When I spot a shady material threatening my home, my natural acidic pH value allows me to isolate this material and do away with it. But don't let the pH deter you from seeing my nurturing side, I am the reason that leaves and flowers can be supported on my host plant. The turgor from my plumpness gives the central vacuole just enough pressure to allow the extensions off the stem of the flower to take place.
Sometimes, I falter and don't always carry out tasks the way I am supposed to. Some diseases that can be associated with my malfunctions are Battens disease and Parakeratosis. Battens usually makes an appearance in early childhood and it becomes fatal by their mid teens, its symptoms are; loss of sight, dementia, personality changes, slow learning, and seizures before finally claiming its victim. Battens is a recessive inherited trait and simple tests such as urine or blood tests can find if the offspring will have it or not. This disease is associated with me because in the process, the pH of my contents is altered and the transport of materials are defective. Parakeratosis is typically found more in canines, and this disease causes the victim to posses scaly skin from dryness, and their hair follicles are typically damaged and blocked from resurfacing.
I think that I am dubbed a Cell Warrior because I am responsible for most of the protein and molecule waste/water/food. The cells health depends on my ability to capture the illness and dispose of it before the whole system falls into chaos and pH balances fall out of whack.
