Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 12, 2025

Three-dimensional Characterization of Interorganelle Contact Sites in Hepatocytes using Serial Section Electron Microscopy
Published on: June 9, 2022
Sticking With It: ER-PM Membrane Contact Sites as a Coordinating Nexus for Regulating Lipids and Proteins at the Cell
Mohammad F Zaman1, Aleksa Nenadic1, Ana Radojičić1,2
1Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
Abstract:
Membrane contact sites between the cortical endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the plasma membrane (PM) provide a direct conduit for small molecule transfer and signaling between the two largest membranes of the cell. Contact is established through ER integral membrane proteins that physically tether the two membranes together, though the general mechanism is remarkably non-specific given the diversity of different tethering proteins. Primary tethers including VAMP-associated proteins (VAPs), Anoctamin/TMEM16/Ist2p homologs, and extended synaptotagmins (E-Syts), are largely conserved in most eukaryotes and are both necessary and sufficient for establishing ER-PM association. In addition, other species-specific ER-PM tether proteins impart unique functional attributes to both membranes at the cell cortex. This review distils recent functional and structural findings about conserved and species-specific tethers that form ER-PM contact sites, with an emphasis on their roles in the coordinate regulation of lipid metabolism, cellular structure, and responses to membrane stress.
More Related Videos
08:27Visualization and Quantification of Endogenous Intra-Organelle Protein Interactions at ER-Mitochondria Contact Sites by Proximity Ligation Assays
Published on: October 20, 2023
08:49Fluorescence-Based Measurements of Phosphatidylserine/Phosphatidylinositol 4-Phosphate Exchange Between Membranes
Published on: March 14, 2021
Related Concept Videos
Assembly of the Lipid Bilayer in the ER
A large chunk of any biological membrane is composed of phospholipids. These lipids have a heterogeneous distribution across different subcellular organelles and even between...
Mechanisms of Membrane Domain Formation
Another mechanism for membrane domain formation involves membrane proteins interacting with...
Membrane Domains
Protein Domains
The membrane comprises a group of distinct proteins responsible for carrying out a cell's specific function. For example, the plasma membrane of the human sperm, or a single germ cell, contains a unique set of proteins in the...
Asymmetric Lipid Bilayer
The Endoplasmic Reticulum
Membrane Fluidity
Mosaic nature of the membrane
The mosaic characteristic of the membrane helps the plasma membrane remain fluid. The integral proteins and lipids exist as separate but loosely-attached molecules in the membrane. The membrane is...