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Coat proteins: shaping membrane transport

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 4, pages 409–414 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Coat proteins allow the selective transfer of macromolecules from one membrane-enclosed compartment to another by concentrating macromolecules into specialized membrane patches and then deforming these patches into small coated vesicles. Recent findings indicate that coat proteins might also participate in the differentiation of membrane domains within organelles and large transport carriers, as well as in the association of the carriers with the cytosketelon and with acceptor organelles.

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Figure 1: Morphological diversity of coated structures.
Figure 2: A schematic representation of the components of various protein coats.
Figure 3: Models for the generation of coated carriers.
Figure 4: The dynamic properties of coat proteins in living cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Caplan and M. Boehm for critically reviewing the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Building 18T/Room 101, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Juan S. Bonifacino & Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz

Authors
  1. Juan S. Bonifacino
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  2. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juan S. Bonifacino.

Related links

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DATABASES

InterPro

ENTH

LocusLink

GGAs

Swiss-Prot

β1-adaptin

γ-adaptin

Arf1

Arf3

Eps15

Eps15R

epsin 1

KIF13A

Rabaptin-5

FURTHER INFORMATION

Juan S. Bonifacino's laboratory

Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz's laboratory

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Bonifacino, J., Lippincott-Schwartz, J. Coat proteins: shaping membrane transport. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 4, 409–414 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm1099

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