Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Characterizing the Composition of Molecular Motors on Moving Axonal Cargo Using "Cargo Mapping" Analysis
Published on: October 30, 2014
Molecular anatomy of a trafficking organelle
Shigeo Takamori1, Matthew Holt, Katinka Stenius
1Department of Neurobiology, Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Membrane traffic in eukaryotic cells involves transport of vesicles that bud from a donor compartment and fuse with an acceptor compartment. Common principles of budding and fusion have emerged, and many of the proteins involved in these events are now known. However, a detailed picture of an entire trafficking organelle is not yet available. Using synaptic vesicles as a model, we have now determined the protein and lipid composition; measured vesicle size, density, and mass; calculated the average protein and lipid mass per vesicle; and determined the copy number of more than a dozen major constituents. A model has been constructed that integrates all quantitative data and includes structural models of abundant proteins. Synaptic vesicles are dominated by proteins, possess a surprising diversity of trafficking proteins, and, with the exception of the V-ATPase that is present in only one to two copies, contain numerous copies of proteins essential for membrane traffic and neurotransmitter uptake.
Related Concept Videos
Golgi Apparatus
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 Tubular Clusters
With the help of motor proteins such...
Golgi Apparatus
The Golgi apparatus is a eukaryotic organelle that has a distinctive ribbon-like appearance. It is a primary sorting and dispatch station for cargo arriving from the ER. Newly arriving vesicles enter the cis face of the Golgi, closest to the ER, and are...
Transport Across the Golgi
Clathrin Coated Vesicles

