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Updated: Jul 29, 2026

Using Caco-2 Cells to Study Lipid Transport by the Intestine
Published on: August 20, 2015
Sorting of endogenous plasma membrane proteins occurs from two sites in cultured human intestinal epithelial cells
K Matter1, M Brauchbar, K Bucher
1Department of Pharmacology, University of Basel, Switzerland.
Abstract:
We studied the postsynthetic sorting of endogenous plasma membrane proteins in a polarized epithelial cell line, Caco-2. Pulse-chase radiolabeling was combined with domain-specific cell surface assays to monitor the arrival of three apical and one basolateral protein at the apical and basolateral cell surface. Apical proteins were inserted simultaneously into both membrane domains. The fraction targeted to the basolateral domain was different for the three apical proteins and was subsequently sorted to the apical domain by transcytosis at different rates. In contrast, a basolateral protein was found in the basolateral membrane only. Thus, sorting of plasma membrane proteins occurred from two sites: the Golgi apparatus and the basolateral membrane. These data explain apparently conflicting results of earlier studies.
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