Molecular dynamics at the endocytic portal and regulations of endocytic and recycling traffics

Abstract

Endocytic and recycling pathways involve the transportation of soluble and transmembrane cargos to destinations within the cell or back to the plasma membrane for reuse. Common mechanistic themes for the traffic pathways in eukaryotic cells from yeast to mammalian cells are well-conserved, manifested by the molecular choreography of cargo segregation, membrane budding and coating, pinching off of the invaginated vesicle, cytoskeleton-mediated vesicle motility and fusion with target compartments. Here, we discuss recent insights into the spatiotemporal dynamics of endocytic machinery at the plasma membrane and the molecular details of bifurcating traffics at the endosome either to the lysosome or to the trans-Golgi network (TGN).

Keywords: Endocytosis; Endosome; Lysosome; Recycling; Traffic.