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Cell biology

The specifics of membrane fusion

Nature volume 407, pages 144–146 (2000)Cite this article

The ability to maintain a diverse set of intracellular compartments, with distinct complements of proteins, is a defining feature of eukaryotic cells. Substances can be transported from one membrane-encased compartment to another, but the compartments maintain their unique identities. Transport occurs in membrane-bounded containers called vesicles, and several protein families have evolved to mediate the budding of a vesicle from the donor compartment, and its transport to and fusion with the target organelle. One of the last steps in the fusion process is overseen by a set of proteins called SNAREs. These have been suggested to be the core machinery that mediates the fusing of two membranes, as well as ensuring that vesicles deliver their cargo to the right compartment1,2. Writing on pages 153, 194 and 198 of this issue3,4,5, Rothman and colleagues conclude — with some caveats — that SNAREs are indeed important in defining the specificity of vesicle targeting.

As well as being involved in driving membrane fusion, SNARE proteins have been implicated in ensuring the accuracy of vesicle trafficking. There appear to be enough SNAREs, differently localized throughout intracellular membrane compartments, to confer specificity on the process. For example, a transport vesicle that buds from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is destined for the Golgi, but how does the cell make sure that it doesn't fuse with, say, the plasma membrane instead? The idea is that, in this case, the SNAREs on the ER-derived vesicle can form a complex only with those on the Golgi, ensuring specificity (Fig. 1a). Such SNAREs are said to be ‘cognate’.

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Figure 1: SNARE proteins and vesicle targeting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, 94305-5345, California, USA

    Suzie J. Scales, Jason B. Bock & Richard H. Scheller

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  1. Suzie J. Scales
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  2. Jason B. Bock
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  3. Richard H. Scheller
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Correspondence to Suzie J. Scales.

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Scales, S., Bock, J. & Scheller, R. The specifics of membrane fusion. Nature 407, 144–146 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35025176

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