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Directing lipid transport at membrane contact sites

Nature Cell Biology volume 18, pages 461–463 (2016)Cite this article

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Contact sites between the endoplasmic reticulum and the plasma membrane mediate receptor signalling. How this function is controlled physically and functionally is poorly understood. Extended synaptotagmins are now shown to shuttle the lipid metabolite diacylglycerol from the plasma membrane to the endoplasmic reticulum in receptor-stimulated cells.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) forms a complex tubular-reticular membrane network that extends throughout the cell and plays fundamental roles in protein synthesis and processing, lipid homeostasis, and Ca2+ storage and release1,2. It is connected to other cellular membranes by vesicular transport, which delivers newly synthesized and endocytosed material along antero- and retrograde trafficking routes, respectively. It also forms numerous contact sites with most other organelles, including the plasma membrane (PM), endosomes and the lysosomal/ vacuolar compartment3. Such contact sites depend on ER-resident tethering molecules that promote the formation of proteinaceous bridges between closely apposed lipid bilayers3. These contact sites have important physiological functions, such as promoting the movement and fission of organelles, lipid exchange between the connected membranes3,4, and in Ca2+ signalling in response to receptor activation5. During the latter process, activation of cell surface receptors triggers the cleavage of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) by phospholipase C (PLC) into the signalling metabolites diacylglycerol (DAG) and inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3)6. How sustained accumulation of DAG at the PM is prevented, to maintain lipid homeostasis and to switch off DAG signalling, is not completely understood.

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Figure 1: E-Syts promote the transport of DAG at ER–PM contact sites.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michael Krauβ and Volker Haucke are at Leibniz Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10, 13125 Berlin,

    Michael Krauβ & Volker Haucke

  2. Volker Haucke is also at Freie Universität Berlin, Faculty of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, 14195 Berlin,

    Volker Haucke

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  1. Michael Krauβ
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Correspondence to Michael Krauβ or Volker Haucke.

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Krauβ, M., Haucke, V. Directing lipid transport at membrane contact sites. Nat Cell Biol 18, 461–463 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3345

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