Endoplasmic Reticulum-Plasma Membrane Associations:Structures and Functions

Abstract

Inside eukaryotic cells, membrane contact sites (MCSs), regions where two membrane-bound organelles are apposed at less than 30 nm, generate regions of important lipid and calcium exchange. This review principally focuses on the structure and the function of MCSs between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the plasma membrane (PM). Here we describe how tethering structures form and maintain these junctions and, in some instances, participate in their function. We then discuss recent insights into the mechanisms by which specific classes of proteins mediate nonvesicular lipid exchange between the ER and PM and how such phenomena, already known to be crucial for maintaining organelle identity, are also emerging as regulators of cell growth and development.

Keywords: ER-PM junctions; endoplasmic reticulum; lipid transfer proteins; membrane trafficking; nonvesicular lipid transport; tethers.