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Nature 437, 1247-1249 (27 October 2005) | doi:10.1038/4371247a; Published online 26 October 2005

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Cell biology: Helices sculpt membrane

Guillaume Drin1 & Bruno Antonny1

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Many proteins are carried within cells in bubble-like sacs. These are pinched off from membranes inside the cell, and it seems that the Sar1p protein is key in both starting and finishing this budding process.

The cell contains a network of membrane-bound compartments that exchange proteins with each other and with the cell surface thanks to several haulage systems, each providing a specific link between one station and another. At the departure point, specialized 'coat' proteins wrap up a small area of the lipid membrane, shaping it into a bulging 'bud' and gathering up proteins due to be transported inside it1.

  1. Guillaume Drin and Bruno Antonny are at the CNRS Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire et Université de Nice, Sophia Antipolis, 06560 Valbonne, France.
    Email: antonny@ipmc.cnrs.fr

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