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Published on: October 21, 2013
The incoherence of the vesicle theory of protein secretion
1University of California, San Francisco, 98 Acacia Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94708, USA. stephen.rothman@ucsf.edu
Abstract:
The rates at which cells secrete peptides and proteins must on average equal their rate of synthesis. This basic equality has unanticipated and seemingly categorical negative consequences for the vesicle theory of protein secretion. This is because the transport mechanisms it proposes, such as the budding and fusion of small vesicles and secretion by exocytosis, are not capable of balancing forces. What follows is an account of the analysis that leads to this conclusion.
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