Cryo-electron tomography of clathrin-coated vesicles: structural implications for coat assembly.

ABSTRACT: Clathrin-coated vesicles mediate vesicular traffic in cells. Three-dimensional image reconstructions of homogenous populations of in vitro assembled clathrin coats have yielded a molecular model for clathrin and its interactions with some of its partners. The intrinsic averaging required for those calculations has precluded detailed analysis of heterogeneous populations of clathrin-coated vesicles isolated from cells. We have therefore used cryo-electron tomography to study the lattice organization of individual clathrin-coated vesicles and the disposition of the captured vesicle with respect to the surrounding coat. We find a wide range of designs for the clathrin lattice, with different patterns of pentagonal, hexagonal, and occasionally heptagonal facets. Many coats, even smaller ones,

SUBMITTER: Cheng Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1839968 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature