GTP-stimulated membrane fission by the N-BAR protein AMPH-1.

Membrane-enclosed transport carriers sort biological molecules between stations in the cell in a dynamic process that is fundamental to the physiology of eukaryotic organisms. While much is known about the formation and release of carriers from specific intracellular membranes, the mechanism of carrier formation from the recycling endosome, a compartment central to cellular signaling, remains to be resolved. In Caenorhabditis elegans, formation of transport carriers from the recycling endosome requires the dynamin-like, Eps15-homology domain (EHD) protein, RME-1, functioning with the Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs (N-BAR) domain protein, AMPH-1.

Single particle fluorescence burst analysis of epsin induced membrane fission.

Vital cellular processes, from cell growth to synaptic transmission, rely on membrane-bounded carriers and vesicles to transport molecular cargo to and from specific intracellular compartments throughout the cell. Compartment-specific proteins are required for the final step, membrane fission, which releases the transport carrier from the intracellular compartment. The role of fission proteins, especially at intracellular locations and in non-neuronal cells, while informed by the dynamin-1 paradigm, remains to be resolved.

Clathrin coat disassembly by the yeast Hsc70/Ssa1p and auxilin/Swa2p proteins observed by single-particle burst analysis spectroscopy.

The role of clathrin-coated vesicles in receptor-mediated endocytosis is conserved among eukaryotes, and many of the proteins required for clathrin coat assembly and disassembly have orthologs in yeast and mammals. In yeast, dozens of proteins have been identified as regulators of the multistep reaction required for endocytosis, including those that regulate disassembly of the clathrin coat. In mammalian systems, clathrin coat disassembly has been reconstituted using neuronal clathrin baskets mixed with the purified chaperone ATPase 70-kDa heat shock cognate (Hsc70), plus a clathrin-specific co-chaperone, such as the synaptic protein auxilin.

Regulation of exocytosis by the exocyst subunit Sec6 and the SM protein Sec1.

Trafficking of protein and lipid cargo through the secretory pathway in eukaryotic cells is mediated by membrane-bound vesicles. Secretory vesicle targeting and fusion require a conserved multisubunit protein complex termed the exocyst, which has been implicated in specific tethering of vesicles to sites of polarized exocytosis. The exocyst is directly involved in regulating soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF) attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complexes and membrane fusion through interactions between the Sec6 subunit and the plasma membrane SNARE protein Sec9.

At the junction of SNARE and SM protein function.

Sec1/Munc18 (SM) proteins bind to and function with soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) at each vesicle fusion site in the cell. The purpose for these interactions is becoming clearer, as what had been interpreted as functional divergence between SM proteins acting at different vesicle trafficking steps, or in specialized cells, is giving way to more recent evidence for common functions among all SM proteins. What is emerging is a picture of SM proteins acting not merely as SNARE regulators, but also as central components of the membrane fusion apparatus.

AMPH-1/Amphiphysin/Bin1 functions with RME-1/Ehd1 in endocytic recycling.

RME-1/EHD1 (receptor mediated endocytosis/Eps15 homology-domain containing 1) family proteins are key residents of the recycling endosome, which are required for endosome-to-plasma membrane transport in Caenorhabditis elegans and mammals. Recent studies suggest similarities between the RME-1/EHD proteins and the Dynamin GTPase superfamily of mechanochemical pinchases, which promote membrane fission. Here we show that endogenous C.

Yeast Sec1p functions before and after vesicle docking.

Sec1/Munc18 (SM) proteins bind cognate soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complexes and stimulate vesicle membrane fusion. Before fusion, vesicles are docked to specific target membranes. Regulation of vesicle docking is attributed to some but not all SM proteins, suggesting specialization of this earlier function.

Tag team action at the synapse.

Communication between neurons relies on chemical synapses and the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. Neurotransmitter release is an exquisitely regulated membrane fusion event that requires the linking of an electrical nerve stimulus to Ca(2+) influx, which leads to the fusion of neurotransmitter-filled vesicles with the cell membrane. The timing of neurotransmitter release is controlled through the regulation of the soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor attachment receptor (SNARE) proteins-the core of the membrane fusion machinery.

Specific SNARE complex binding mode of the Sec1/Munc-18 protein, Sec1p.

The Sec1/Munc-18 (SM) family of proteins is required for vesicle fusion in eukaryotic cells and has been linked to the membrane-fusion proteins known as soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs). SM proteins may activate the target-membrane SNARE, syntaxin, for assembly into the fusogenic SNARE complex. In support of an activation role, SM proteins bind directly to their cognate syntaxins.