Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Vesicular transport

Sticky fingers grab a lipid

Nature volume 394, pages 426–427 (1998)Cite this article

Inositol lipids first came into the limelight in the 1980s when they were identified as a source of second messengers after cleavage by phospholipase C. In the 1990s they emerged under a different guise — intact inositol lipids were found to interact directly with proteins and to participate in exocytosis (release of messenger molecules from cells), cytoskeletal reorganization and vesicle transport. A report by Simonsen et al.1 on page 494 of this issue now sheds light on how intracellular vesicle transport is connected to inositol lipids. And studies by Gaullier et al.2 and Patki et al.3 (pages 432 and 433), and Bird and Emr4 in Molecular Cell, feature the protein domain through which this interaction with inositol lipids occurs.

There are several different classes of inositol lipid. The 3-phosphorylated varieties, phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PtdIns(3)P) and the bis- and trisphosphate forms PtdIns(3,5)P2 and PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, are formed by phosphoinositol-3-OH kinases (PI3Ks). They cannot be cleaved by phospholipase C, and function as intact lipids. One of them, PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, takes part in signalling cascades initiated by growth-factor receptors, guanine-nucleotide-binding (G) protein-coupled receptors and cytokine receptors. Another, PtdIns(3)P, has been implicated in intracellular vesicle transport, and the new reports1,2,3,4 present a molecular explanation for this interaction.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Membrane-transport events that rely on proteins containing the FYVE finger domain.
Figure 2: Model for the association of EEA1 with the endosomal membrane, based on the results of four new studies1,2,3,4.

References

  1. Simonsen, A.et al. Nature 394, 494–498 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gaullier, J.-M.et al. Nature 394, 432–433 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Patki, V., Lawe, D. C., Corvera, S., Virbasius, J. V. & Chawla, A. Nature 394, 433–434 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Burd, C. G. & Emr, S. D. Mol. Cell 2, 157–162 (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Stenmark, H., Aasland, R., Toh, B. & d'Arrigo, A. J. Biol. Chem. 271, 24048–24054 (1996).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Patki, V.et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 94, 7326–7330 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Piper, R. C., Cooper, A. A., Yang, H. & Stevens, T. H. J. Cell Biol. 131, 603–617 (1995).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Yamamoto, A.et al. Mol. Biol. Cell 6, 525–539 (1995).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Weisman, L. S. & Wickner, W. J. Biol. Chem. 267, 618–623 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Conradt, B., Shaw, J., Vida, T., Emr, S. & Wickner, W. J. Cell Biol. 119, 1469–1479 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Bean, A. J., Seifert, R., Chen, Y. A., Sacks, R. & Scheller, R. H. Nature 385, 826–829 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Jones, S. M., Crosby, J. R., Salamero, J. & Howell, K. E. J. Cell Biol. 122, 775–788 (1993).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Mills, I. G., Jones, A. T. & Clague, M. J. Curr. Biol. 8, 881–884 (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Jones, S. M. & Howell, K. E. J. Cell Biol. 139, 339–349 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Komada, M., Masaki, R., Yamamoto, A. & Kitamura, N. J. Biol. Chem. 272, 20538–20544 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Dove, S. K.et al. Nature 390, 187–196 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Rockefeller Building, University College, WC1E 6JJ, London, UK

    Claudia Wiedemann & Shamshad Cockcroft

Authors
  1. Claudia Wiedemann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shamshad Cockcroft
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wiedemann, C., Cockcroft, S. Sticky fingers grab a lipid. Nature 394, 426–427 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/28752

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/28752

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing