endocytic vesicles

What is the main purpose of the endocytic pathway?

To monitor and adjust the cell surface by internalizing proteins and deciding whether to recycle or degrade them.

What compartments form the route of the endocytic pathway?

Plasma membrane → endocytic vesicle → early endosome → recycling pathway or lysosomal degradation.

What proportion of the cell surface can immune cells internalize per hour?

Approximately the entire surface area every hour.

What happens to transferrin and LDL receptors after delivering cargo?

They recycle back to the plasma membrane.

What determines whether a receptor is recycled or degraded?

Sorting decisions made inside the early endosome.

Why is EM required to visualize endocytic vesicles?

Light microscopy cannot resolve vesicles (50 nm)

What is a pulse–chase experiment?

A method where cargo is briefly labeled (pulse) and then tracked over time (chase) to observe transport.

Why was ferritin-LDL used in early experiments?

Ferritin contains iron

What phenotype was seen in familial hypercholesterolemia patient JD?

LDL bound to receptors but was not internalized.

What mutation caused the JD patient’s defect?

A single tyrosine mutation in the NPXY internalization motif of LDLR.

What is the function of sorting motifs such as YxxΦ

NPXY

What is AP2?

A tetrameric adaptor protein that binds cargo motifs

Why is AP2 normally inactive in the cytosol?

Its cargo and clathrin binding sites are hidden (‘closed’ conformation).

What activates AP2?

Binding to PI(4

What role does PI(4

5)P₂ play in CME?

What does clathrin do?

Forms a stabilizing scaffold around budding vesicles but does not initiate curvature.

What generates initial membrane curvature?

Insertion of amphipathic helices from proteins like epsin.

What are amphipathic helices?

Helices with hydrophobic and polar faces that insert into one leaflet to induce curvature.

What is epsin’s function?

Binds PI(4

What are BAR-domain proteins?

Banana-shaped dimers that bind and stabilize highly curved membranes

What does amphiphysin do?

Recognizes high curvature via its BAR domain and recruits dynamin.

What is dynamin?

A GTPase that forms a collar around the vesicle neck and performs membrane scission.

What phenotype is seen in shibire (dynamin) mutants?

At non-permissive temperatures

How does dynamin mediate scission?

GTP hydrolysis triggers a conformational twist that constricts and severs the vesicle neck.

What triggers coat disassembly after vesicle formation?

Conversion of PI(4

Why must coat proteins fall off after budding?

To allow vesicle fusion with the early endosome.

What experimental evidence supports timing of coat assembly?

Live-cell imaging of fluorescently tagged cargo

When is dynamin recruited during vesicle formation?

Very late

What does coincidence detection mean in CME?

Proteins require multiple simultaneous signals (e.g.

Besides clathrin-mediated endocytosis

what other pathways exist?

Why is CME considered the best understood uptake pathway?

It is highly selective