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An evolutionary perspective on eukaryotic membrane trafficking.

Cemal Gurkan1, Atanas V Koulov, William E Balch

  • 1Department of Cell Biology, The Institute for Childhood and Neglected Disease, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.

Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
|November 6, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Rab GTPases, not coat protein complexes or SNAREs, significantly drove eukaryotic endomembrane evolution. These Rab proteins enabled specialized cellular structures from single-celled organisms to complex multicellular eukaryotes.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Eukaryotic cells feature complex endomembrane systems for exocytic and endocytic trafficking.
  • Protein families like coat protein complexes (CPCs), Rab GTPases, and SNAREs regulate membrane trafficking.
  • Understanding the evolution of these protein families is key to endomembrane specialization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the evolutionary diversification of protein families regulating eukaryotic endomembrane systems.
  • To propose a model for how Rab GTPases drove endomembrane specialization throughout eukaryotic evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Phylogenetic analysis
  • Structural biology
  • Systems biology approaches

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Main Results:

  • Core CPC and SNARE machineries show modest diversification.
  • The Rab GTPase family underwent substantial expansion.
  • Rab GTPases are central to endomembrane specialization across eukaryotes.

Conclusions:

  • Rab GTPases were a primary driver of endomembrane architectural evolution.
  • Rab-centric networks orchestrate membrane fission and fusion.
  • This expansion facilitated diverse cellular functions from unicellular to multicellular life.