New insights into the structural mechanisms of the COPII coat

Abstract

In eukaryotes, coat protein complex II (COPII) proteins are involved in transporting cargo proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus. The COPII proteins, Sar1, Sec23/24, and Sec13/31 polymerize into a coat that gathers cargo proteins into a coated vesicle. Structures have been recently solved of individual COPII proteins, COPII proteins in complex with cargo, and higher-order COPII coat assemblies. In this review, we will summarize the latest developments in COPII structure and discuss how these structures shed light on the functional mechanisms of the COPII coat.