Article abstract
Focus on Membrane Traffic abstract
Nature Cell Biology 1, 376 - 382 (1999)
Published online: 16 September 1999 | doi:10.1038/14075
Rab5 regulates motility of early endosomes on microtubules
Erik Nielsen1, Fedor Severin1, Jonathan M. Backer2, Anthony A. Hyman1 & Marino Zerial1
Abstract
The small GTPase Rab5 regulates membrane docking and fusion in the early endocytic pathway. Here we reveal a new role for Rab5 in the regulation of endosome interactions with the microtubule network. Using Rab5 fused to green fluorescent protein we show that Rab5-positive endosomes move on microtubules in vivo. In vitro, Rab5 stimulates both association of early endosomes with microtubules and early-endosome motility towards the minus ends of microtubules. Moreover, similarly to endosome membrane docking and fusion, Rab5-dependent endosome movement depends on the phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase hVPS34. Thus, Rab5 functionally links regulation of membrane transport, motility and intracellular distribution of early endosomes.
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Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and
Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse, Dresden D-01307, c/o European Molecular Biology
Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117
Heidelberg, Germany
e-mail: zerial@embl-heidelberg.de - Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, New York 10461, USA
