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Polarized epithelial membrane traffic: conservation and plasticity

Nature Cell Biology volume 5, pages 287–293 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Most cells are polarized and have distinct plasma membrane domains, which are the result of polarized trafficking of proteins and lipids. Great progress has been made in elucidating the highly conserved polarized targeting machinery. A pre-eminent challenge now is to understand the plasticity of polarized traffic, how it is altered by differentiation and dedifferentiation during development, as well as the adaptation of differentiated cells to meet changing physiological needs.

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Figure 1: Major trafficking pathways in polarized epithelial cells.
Figure 2: Regulation of pIgR transcytosis.
Figure 3: Developmental plasticity and orientation of epithelial polarity.
Figure 4: Alterations in membrane traffic as cells polarize.

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Acknowledgements

Our apologies to the many authors whose important work we could not cite, or were cited only indirectly through reviews, due to space limitations. We thank P. Brakeman for comments, members of our laboratory for discussions and J. Wong for assistance with manuscript preparation. K.M. is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. Correspondence should be addressed to K.M.

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  1. Department of Anatomy, Genentech Hall, 600 16th Street, University of California, San Francisco, 94143-2140, CA, USA

    Keith Mostov, Tao Su & Martin ter Beest

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Correspondence to Keith Mostov.

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Mostov, K., Su, T. & ter Beest, M. Polarized epithelial membrane traffic: conservation and plasticity. Nat Cell Biol 5, 287–293 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0403-287

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