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Nature 448, 266-267 (19 July 2007) | doi:10.1038/448266a; Published online 18 July 2007

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Cell biology: Caught in the traffic

Aparna Lakkaraju1 & Enrique Rodriguez-Boulan1

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In mice, deletion of the Rab8 protein disrupts organized molecular distribution to membranes of intestinal epithelial cells. Death by starvation follows, exactly as it does in humans with microvillus inclusion disease.

The gut, like other tubular structures in the body, is lined with a monolayer of epithelial cells, which forms the main interface between the external and internal environments of an organism. A defining characteristic of these cells is their polarity — that is, their apical and basolateral surfaces have different molecular compositions and different functions, allowing them to manage the different environments they face.

  1. Aparna Lakkaraju and Enrique Rodriguez-Boulan are at the Margaret M. Dyson Vision Research Institute, Departments of Ophthalmology and Cell and Developmental Biology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York 10021, USA.
    Email: boulan@med.cornell.edu

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