Insider information: what viruses tell us about endocytosis

Lucas Pelkmans1, Ari Helenius

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany. pelkmans@mpi-cbg.de

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Overview
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Intralumenal Vesicles and Multivesicular Bodies

Intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) are small vesicles 50-80 nm in diameter formed during the maturation of early endosomes. A specialized endosome containing numerous ILVs is called a multivesicular body (MVB). ILVs contain internalized molecules such as antigens, nucleic acids, proteins, and metabolites. Some of these molecules are released from the MVBs inside exosomes and are transported to other cells. Other MVBs contain molecules that are retained in the ILVs and are later degraded within the...
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Pinching-off of Coated Vesicles

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