Intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) are small vesicles 50-80 nm in diameter formed during the maturation of early endosomes. A specialized endosome containing numerous ILVs is called a multivesicular body (MVB). ILVs contain internalized molecules such as antigens, nucleic acids, proteins, and metabolites. Some of these molecules are released from the MVBs inside exosomes and are transported to other cells. Other MVBs contain molecules that are retained in the ILVs and are later degraded within the...

Vesicle budding is orchestrated by distinct cytosolic proteins such as adaptor proteins, coat proteins, and GTPases. To initiate vesicle budding, membrane-bending proteins containing crescent-shaped BAR domains bind to the lipid heads in the bilayer and distort the membrane to form a protein-coated vesicle bud. Adaptors proteins such as AP2 for clathrin-coated vesicles can nucleate on the deformed membrane. Finally, coat proteins such as clathrin or COPI and COPII assemble into a coat forming...

After budding out from the ER membrane, some COPII vesicles lose their coat and fuse with one another to form larger vesicles and interconnected tubules called vesicular tubular clusters or VTCs. These clusters constitute a compartment at the ER-Golgi interface known as ERGIC (Endoplasmic Reticulum Golgi Intermediate Compartment). The ERGIC is a mobile membrane-bound cargo transport system that sorts proteins secreted from ER and delivers them to the Golgi.
With the help of motor proteins such...

Multivesicular bodies (MVBs) are mature endosomes that sort ubiquitinated proteins and then fuse with lysosomes to degrade the sorted proteins. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and its receptor (EGFR) form a complex that can be internalized through endocytosis, sorted into an MVB, and later degraded.
The EGFR can initiate signaling pathways that  lead to cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Overexpression of EGFR  stimulates cells to proliferate. Excessive  EGFR...

The recycling endosome, also known as the endosomal recycling compartment (ERC), is a part of the slow-recycling process of the endocytic pathway. Molecules internalized through receptor-mediated endocytosis are either degraded in the lysosomes or are recycled to the plasma membrane through the fast- or slow-recycling route.
The recycling endosome is not a single organelle but an extensively tubulated network of recycling pathways. It functions in storing molecules or transporting them across...

Vesicular transport is a cellular process that encompasses the engulfment of particles or dissolved substances by cells. It involves endocytosis, transcytosis, and exocytosis.
Endocytosis is a cellular mechanism that involves the inward folding of the cell membrane to create vesicles that capture and transport large drug molecules. This process comprises two distinct methods: pinocytosis (often referred to as "cell drinking") and phagocytosis (often referred to as "cell...