When considering a protein creating/secreting cell, the organelles that are responsible for packaging and secreting the proteins will be most important. Starting at the beginning, proteins will be translated using the ribosomes found on the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Those will then be sent to the golgi apparatus for proper packaging. Those packages will then be released from the cell. The smooth endoplasmic reticulum will not be a vital organelle for protein creation and secretion.

Nuclear import and export do not require post-translational modifications. The nuclear localization sequence or the nuclear export sequence is contained within the amino acid sequence itself (primary structure), and does not require and special modification.

For targeting to the proteasome, proteins must be ubiquinated. To target a protein to the lysosome the addition of a mannose-6-phosphate is commonly made.