Transport and internal organization of membranes: vesicles, membrane networks and GTP-binding proteins

Abstract

Eukaryotic cells contain a variety of membranous organelles such as the Golgi complex and endosomes, which are organized to allow the flow of molecules to specific regions within the cell. Well known examples of this targeted flow include the transport of specific molecules to the apical pole of epithelial cells, to the axon terminals of neurons, and the transcytosis of immunoglobulins. The generally accepted model of transport between the different intracellular compartments maintains that transport is mediated by carrier vesicles, but recent data show the participation of tubulovesicular structures in membrane transport, and the assumed discontinuity of some intracellular compartments has come under considerable scrutiny. It seems that for different intracellular pathways, eukaryotic cells use both the vesicular and the tubular (bolus) means of transport. In this article I will discuss the vesicular and the tubular models of transport as well as a hypothesis for the mechanism of action of small GTPases of the rab family in these movements.