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Nature 432, 568-569 (2 December 2004) | doi:10.1038/432568a; Published online 1 December 2004

Cell biology:  Clathrin's Achilles' ankle

Frances M. Brodsky1

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The protein clathrin forms lattice-like coats on transport vesicles that bud from cell membranes. High-resolution models of the lattice reveal interactions involved in its disassembly once the vesicles have formed.

Cells are busy places, with membrane traffic moving in all directions — from the cell surface to internal compartments and back again, and from one compartment to another. The transport vehicles are tiny, membrane-bound spheres called vesicles, which bud off from the membrane that encloses a compartment (or the cell itself), and fuse with a target membrane.

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