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The machinery and principles of vesicle transport in the cell

Nature Medicine volume 8, pages 1059–1062 (2002)Cite this article

A defining feature of the eukaryotic cell is its compartmentalized cytoplasm of functionally specialized membrane-bound organelles. This internal organization creates a network of complementary reaction vessels that enable biochemical processes to occur without interference, as well as a matrix of distinct surfaces on which needed signaling modules can coalesce on demand. The molecular mechanisms by which compartments are generated and maintained are thus fundamental to biology and medicine. Discovering them posed daunting challenges two decades ago when Randy Schekman and I independently initiated the genetic and biochemical approaches. To appreciate the context, I will set the stage from my perspective and background.

By 1970 the already-classic work of George Palade had made it evident that secreted proteins are carried from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the cell surface in specialized containers, or transport vesicles, that bud from one membrane and fuse with the next, transiting the Golgi stack en route. We now know that such intracellular protein transport is a universal process in all eukaryotes. Many kinds of vesicles traverse the cell, laden with many kinds of cargo for delivery. The result is a choreographed program of secretory, biosynthetic and endocytic protein traffic that serves the cell's internal physiologic needs, propagates its internal organization and allows it to communicate with the outside world and to receive nutrients and signals from it.

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Figure 1

(Reprinted from ref. 5, with permission from Elsevier Science.)

Figure 2: An early concept of the role of the SNAREpin in mediating fusion.

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Acknowledgements

The body of work has benefited from the critical support of the National Institutes of Health and The Mathers Charitable Foundation.

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  1. Cellular Biophysics and Biochemistry Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA

    James E. Rothman

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  1. James E. Rothman
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Rothman, J. The machinery and principles of vesicle transport in the cell. Nat Med 8, 1059–1062 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm770

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