Mammalian ykt6 is a neuronal SNARE targeted to a specialized compartment by its profilin-like amino terminal domain.

ABSTRACT: SNAREs are required for specific membrane fusion throughout the endomembrane system. Here we report the characterization of rat ykt6, a prenylated SNARE selectively expressed in brain neurons. Immunofluorescence microscopy in neuronal and neuroendocrine cell lines revealed that membrane-associated ykt6 did not colocalize significantly with any conventional markers of endosomes, lysosomes, or the secretory pathway. However, ykt6-containing membranes displayed very minor overlaps with lysosomes and dense-core secretory granules and were similar to lysosomes in buoyant density. Thus, ykt6 appears to be specialized for the trafficking of a unique membrane compartment, perhaps related to lysosomes, involved in aspects of neuronal function. Targeting of this SNARE to the ykt6 compartment was med

SUBMITTER: Hasegawa H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC150002 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature