Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026

The Cell-based L-Glutathione Protection Assays to Study Endocytosis and Recycling of Plasma Membrane Proteins
Published on: December 13, 2013
The Rab11-FIP1/RCP gene codes for multiple protein transcripts related to the plasma membrane recycling system
1Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Nashville VA Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
Abstract:
Rab11a is a member of the Rab11 small GTPase family, and plays an important role in plasma membrane recycling. Rab11-Family Interacting Protein 1 (Rab11-FIP1) binds to Rab11 through a carboxyl-terminal amphipathic alpha helix. We have identified eight alternatively spliced Rab11-FIP1 gene transcripts from human chromosome 8. Among them, Rab11-FIP1A-D have carboxyl terminal Rab11 binding domains, while Rab11-FIP1E-H do not contain the Rab11 binding domain. While Rab11-FIP1B and F gene transcripts are ubiquitous, other Rab11-FIP1 transcripts demonstrate more limited patterns of expression in human tissue cDNAs. EGFP-Rab11-FIP1A-D proteins over-expressed in HeLa cells targeted to Rab11a-containing membranes, while EGFP-Rab11-FIP1E/F and H proteins did not localize with recycling system membranes. However, transferrin trafficking was not significantly altered in HeLa cells over-expressing expressing any of the EGFP-Rab11-FIP1 proteins. Rabbit polyclonal antibodies specific for Rab11-FIP1B and Rab11-FIP1C/RCP demonstrated that Rab11-FIP1B and Rab11-FIP1C/RCP are expressed endogenously. Strikingly, endogenous staining for Rab11-FIP1C/RCP only partially co-localized with EGFP-Rab11-FIP1A, EGFP-Rab11-FIP1B, and EGFP-Rab11a in the perinuclear region, indicating that Rab11-FIP1C/RCP resides in a differentiable subcellular compartment within the plasma membrane recycling system compared with Rab11-FIP1A and Rab11-FIP1B. These data suggest that Rab11-FIP1 proteins may play coordinated roles in regulating plasma membrane recycling with regional specificity within the Rab11a-containing recycling system.
Related Concept Videos
Rab Cascades
Recycling Endosomes and Transcytosis
The recycling endosome is not a single organelle but an extensively tubulated network of recycling pathways. It functions in storing molecules or transporting them across...
Rab Proteins
Rab proteins switch between a cytosolic, GDP-bound inactive state and a membrane-anchored, GTP-bound active state. By themselves, Rabs show slow rates of GDP/GTP exchange and GTP hydrolysis. Thus, Rab proteins are considered...
Directing Proteins to the Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum
ER Retrieval Pathway
The ER uses many checkpoints to prevent the entry of incorrectly folded or a resident protein as cargo onto a transport vesicle. These mechanisms...
Coat Assembly and GTPases
Coat assembly depends on the local availability of phosphatidylinositol phosphates or PIPs and GTP-binding proteins. Adaptor proteins, which link the coat proteins to the membrane, bind to these PIPs and play a crucial role in controlling...

