Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Visualizing Intracellular SNARE Trafficking by Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy
Published on: December 29, 2017
Flippases and vesicle-mediated protein transport
1Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235-1634, USA. trgraham@vanderbilt.edu
Abstract:
The best-understood mechanisms for generating transport vesicles in the secretory and endocytic pathways involve the localized assembly of cytosolic coat proteins such as clathrin, coat protein complex (COP)I and COPII onto membranes. These coat proteins can deform membranes by themselves, but accessory proteins might help to generate the tight curvature needed to form a vesicle. Enzymes that pump phospholipid from one leaflet of the bilayer to the other (flippases) can deform membranes by creating an imbalance in the phospholipid number between the two leaflets. Recent studies describe a requirement for the yeast Drs2p family of P-type ATPases in both phospholipid translocation and protein transport in the secretory and endocytic pathways. This indicates that flippases work with coat proteins to form vesicles.
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Protein Sorting and Transport
Protein sorting can be of two types: signal-based sorting and vesicle-based trafficking. In signal-based sorting, specific amino acid sequences called sorting signals target proteins to the proper location inside the cell either via gated transport or by protein translocation. In gated transport, folded...
Membrane Asymmetry Regulating Transporters
Flippase
Eukaryotic flippases are type-IV P-type ATPases or P4-ATPases belonging to P-type ATPase family proteins that are membrane-bound pumps involved in the ATP-mediated transport of ions and molecules across the membrane. Flippases flip specific phospholipids from the outer to the inner leaflet of a membrane. All P4-ATPases have one...
COP Coated Vesicles
Clathrin Coated Vesicles
Introduction to Membrane Traffic
The transport of soluble and membrane proteins is mediated by transport vesicles that collect cargo from one cellular compartment and deliver it to another by fusing with the target organelle membrane. The Rab...
Vesicular Trasport: Endocytosis, Transcytosis and Exocytosis
Endocytosis is a cellular mechanism that involves the inward folding of the cell membrane to create vesicles that capture and transport large drug molecules. This process comprises two distinct methods: pinocytosis (often referred to as "cell drinking") and phagocytosis (often referred to as "cell eating"). Pinocytosis is...

