The ubiquitin-like molecule ATG12 is required for the early steps of autophagy. Recently, we identified ATG3, the E2-like enzyme required for LC3 lipidation during autophagy, as an ATG12 conjugation ...

In two recent Cell Reports papers, scientists led by Scott Small, Columbia University, New York, detail new insights into the function of the retromer, an endosome protein complex linked to ...

This is a preview. Log in through your library . Abstract We have investigated two aspects of membrane traffic at early stages of endocytosis: membrane fusion and microtubule-dependent transport. As a ...

Neurotransmitter release is achieved through the fusion of synaptic vesicles with the neuronal plasma membrane (exocytosis). Vesicles are then retrieved from the plasma membrane (endocytosis). It was ...

Scientists have linked loss-of-function mutations in SORL1 to overproduction of Aβ and to early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Now, in the June 2 Cell Reports, researchers led by Jessica Young at the ...

While it was thought that receptors function at the surface of nerve cells, they discovered that activated receptors move within the cell to a compartment called the endosome. In an endosome, ...

On a daily basis, multitudes of molecules enter each cell in our body. These can be nutrients or signal molecules or pathogenic microorganisms. An organelle in the cell directs these molecules to ...

Christianson syndrome, also referred to as CS, is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder associated with seizures, various degrees of intellectual disability and difficulty standing or walking. Research ...

This study revealed two independent retrograde pathways: a sorting nexin–mediated pathway (orange) and a core retromer–mediated pathway (blue). In yeast, sorting nexins and the core retromer form a ...

Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that plays an important role in controlling movement, emotion and cognition. Dopamine dysfunction is believed to be one of the causes of disorders like ...