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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Introduction to Solid Supported Membrane Based Electrophysiology
Published on: May 11, 2013
Vaults are the answer, what is the question?
V A Kickhoefer1, S K Vasu, L H Rome
1Dept of Biological Chemistry, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1737, USA.
Abstract:
Vaults are large cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein (RNP) particles of eukaryotic cells, whose considerable abundance and striking evolutionary conservation argue for an important general cellular function. Early studies on vaults focused on the structural features and cellular distribution of the particle and will only be summarized briefly here. In this article, we discuss the molecular characterization of vault components and describe genetic studies carried out in Dictyostelium. The recent finding that the major vault protein is elevated in non-P-glycoprotein multidrug resistant cancer cells has direct implications concerning the function of the vault particle and indicates a potential role for vaults in resistance of tumour cells to anticancer drugs.
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