Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Design and Fabrication of an Elastomeric Unit for Soft Modular Robots in Minimally Invasive Surgery
Published on: November 14, 2015
A modular design for the clathrin- and actin-mediated endocytosis machinery
Marko Kaksonen1, Christopher P Toret, David G Drubin
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, USA.
Abstract:
Endocytosis depends on an extensive network of interacting proteins that execute a series of distinct subprocesses. Previously, we used live-cell imaging of six budding-yeast proteins to define a pathway for association of receptors, adaptors, and actin during endocytic internalization. Here, we analyzed the effects of 61 deletion mutants on the dynamics of this pathway, revealing functions for 15 proteins, and we analyzed the dynamics of 8 of these proteins. Our studies provide evidence for four protein modules that cooperate to drive coat formation, membrane invagination, actin-meshwork assembly, and vesicle scission during clathrin/actin-mediated endocytosis. We found that clathrin facilitates the initiation of endocytic-site assembly but is not needed for membrane invagination or vesicle formation. Finally, we present evidence that the actin-meshwork assembly that drives membrane invagination is nucleated proximally to the plasma membrane, opposite to the orientation observed for previously studied actin-assembly-driven motility processes.
Related Concept Videos
Receptor-mediated Endocytosis
Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis of LDL
One well-characterized example of receptor-mediated endocytosis is the...
COP Coated Vesicles
Pinching-off of Coated Vesicles
Vesicular Tubular Clusters
With the help of motor proteins such...
Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
Clathrin Coated Vesicles

