Membrane Tethering Potency of Rab-Family Small GTPases Is Defined by the C-Terminal Hypervariable Regions.

ABSTRACT: Membrane tethering is a crucial step to determine the spatiotemporal specificity of secretory and endocytic trafficking pathways in all eukaryotic endomembrane systems. Recent biochemical studies by a chemically-defined reconstitution approach reveal that, in addition to the structurally-diverse classic tethering factors such as coiled-coil tethering proteins and multisubunit tethering complexes, Rab-family small GTPases also retain the inherent membrane tethering functions to directly and physically bridge two distinct lipid bilayers by themselves. Although Rab-mediated membrane tethering reactions are fairly efficient and specific in the physiological context, its mechanistic basis is yet to be understood. Here, to explore whether and how the intrinsic tethering potency of Rab GTPases is

SUBMITTER: Ueda S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7554592 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature