Coat proteins: shaping membrane transport

Abstract

Coat proteins allow the selective transfer of macromolecules from one membrane-enclosed compartment to another by concentrating macromolecules into specialized membrane patches and then deforming these patches into small coated vesicles. Recent findings indicate that coat proteins might also participate in the differentiation of membrane domains within organelles and large transport carriers, as well as in the association of the carriers with the cytosketelon and with acceptor organelles.