What happens to proteins during synthesis in the cytosol before they fold?

During protein synthesis in the cytosol, proteins are synthesized in a process known as translation. During this stage, ribosomes facilitate the assembly of amino acids into polypeptide chains according to the information encoded in mRNA. The correct response highlights that proteins are fully synthesized before they begin the folding process.

This synthesis process involves the sequential addition of amino acids to a growing chain based on the mRNA template, resulting in a linear polypeptide. Only after synthesis is complete do the proteins undergo proper folding and structural modifications, often facilitated by chaperone proteins, to attain their functional three-dimensional conformations.

In this context, the options that suggest alternative outcomes—such as degradation, becoming enzymes, or being packaged—do not accurately describe the immediate process occurring in the cytosol during translation. The primary focus at this stage is the complete assembly of the polypeptide chain before any subsequent processing or modification takes place.