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Cell biology

Protein choreography

Nature volume 438, pages 571–573 (2005)Cite this article

Just under the cell surface, proteins engage in an intricate ballet to drive a transport process called endocytosis. Much is known about the individual dancers, but now the choreography is revealed.

Endocytosis is the process by which cells gulp up small patches of their outer plasma membrane, sucking them inside to form small membrane-enclosed vesicles. These bubble-like structures provide a transport mechanism for carrying proteins that were embedded in the outer membrane, extracellular molecules associated with some of those proteins and small amounts of extracellular fluid1. The process can affect both normal and disease states of the cell through its roles in nutrient acquisition, cell growth, neural transmission and the entry of viruses into cells.

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Figure 1: The dynamics of endocytic vesicle formation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Mara C. Duncan & Gregory S. Payne

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  1. Mara C. Duncan
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  2. Gregory S. Payne
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Correspondence to Mara C. Duncan.

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Duncan, M., Payne, G. Protein choreography. Nature 438, 571–573 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/438571a

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