Lipid remodelling in neuroendocrine secretion

Neuroendocrine cells secrete hormones and polypeptides through a complex membrane trafficking process that involves the transport of specific organelles, called large dense core secretory granules, from the Golgi apparatus to specialised sites at the plasma membrane where these vesicles are successively exocytosed and recaptured by endocytosis through tightly coupled reactions. The minimal machinery required for exocytosis has been defined as SNARE proteins associated with few accessory proteins. On the other side, clathrin and dynamin constitute major components of some of the most important endocytotic pathways. Although many protein contributors of both exocytosis and endocytosis are now identified, their actual interplay is not well resolved. Furthermore, the necessary tight coupling of exocytosis and compensatory endocytosis to maintain membrane homeostasis in neuroendocrine cells is far from being understood. In this review, we focus on the more recently identified role of lipids in these important processes that are above all membrane remodelling events.