Implications of the SNARE hypothesis for intracellular membrane topology and dynamics

Abstract

The SNARE hypothesis provides a mechanism for the specific docking and fusion of transport vesicles with their target membranes. A simple extension of the hypothesis can explain many cellular processes, including the stacking of Golgi cisternae, retrograde transport and homotypic fusion; it can also explain the morphology of intracellular membranes and their dynamics during mitosis.