Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 6, 2025

Measuring the pH, Redox Chemistries, and Degradative Capacity of Macropinosomes using Dual-Fluorophore Ratiometric Microscopy
07:31

Measuring the pH, Redox Chemistries, and Degradative Capacity of Macropinosomes using Dual-Fluorophore Ratiometric Microscopy

Published on: August 19, 2021

2.5K

Macropinocytosis: mechanisms and regulation

Gilbert Salloum1, Anne R Bresnick2, Jonathan M Backer1,2

  • 1Department of Molecular Pharamacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, U.S.A.

The Biochemical Journal
|March 15, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Macropinocytosis is a cellular process for nutrient uptake and immune surveillance. This review details the signaling pathways regulating this actin-dependent endocytosis.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Macropinocytosis is an actin-dependent, non-selective endocytic process forming large vesicles (macropinosomes).
  • It's crucial for immune surveillance (dendritic cells, macrophages) and nutrient uptake (unicellular organisms, tumor cells).

Approach:

  • This review synthesizes current knowledge on macropinocytosis mechanisms.
  • It examines the complex signaling networks governing macropinosome formation, internalization, and fate.

Key Points:

  • Key regulators include GTPases, lipid and protein kinases/phosphatases, and actin regulatory proteins.
  • The process is independent of clathrin-coated vesicles and dynamin.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding macropinocytosis signaling is vital for its roles in immunity and disease.
  • Further research into these pathways could reveal therapeutic targets.
Keywords:
GTPasesRacmacropinocytosisphosphoinositide 3-kinase

More Related Videos

Automated Imaging and Analysis for the Quantification of Fluorescently Labeled Macropinosomes11:01

Automated Imaging and Analysis for the Quantification of Fluorescently Labeled Macropinosomes

Published on: August 24, 2021

2.8K
Visualizing Membrane Ruffle Formation using Scanning Electron Microscopy08:05

Visualizing Membrane Ruffle Formation using Scanning Electron Microscopy

Published on: May 27, 2021

2.7K

Related Concept Videos

Pinocytosis00:38

Pinocytosis

Cells use energy-requiring bulk transport mechanisms to transfer large particles or large numbers of small particles into or out of the cell. The cells envelop the particles in spherical membranes called vesicles or vacuoles. Vesicles that transport material into the cell are built from the cell membrane. These vesicles encapsulate external molecules and transport them into the cell in a process called endocytosis.
Pinocytosis ("cellular drinking") is one of three main types of...
3.3K
Receptor-mediated Endocytosis01:39

Receptor-mediated Endocytosis

Overview
104.9K
Endocytosis01:16

Endocytosis

Eukaryotic cells acquire nutrients for growth and proliferation. Nutrients and other molecules that require degradation are internalized from the extracellular space by a process called endocytosis. The term ‘endocytosis' was first coined by Christian de Duve in 1963.
Endocytosis always begins with the plasma membrane enclosing an incoming molecule to form a transport vesicle which, in some cases, can be coated with a protein called ‘clathrin.' Endocytosed material is either...
9.5K
Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome01:36

Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome

Eukaryotic cells use different mechanisms to eliminate toxic waste obsolete and worn-out substances. Lysosomes play a pivotal role in this, and hence, these substances are carried to the lysosome from other parts of the cell and extracellular space through different pathways. The most elaborately studied pathways to the lysosome are the endocytic pathways.
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
6.6K
Phosphoinositides and PIPs01:42

Phosphoinositides and PIPs

Phosphoinositides are a group of phospholipids containing a glycerol backbone with two fatty acid chains and a phosphate attached to a myoinositol sugar ring. The inositol head group extends into the cytoplasm, where it is modified by adding phosphate groups to form phosphatidylinositol phosphates or PIPs.
Different phosphoinositides are synthesized and recruited on the cytosolic face of the plasma membrane. The localization of specific phosphoinositides concentrated in separate membrane...
8.6K
Phagocytosis00:41

Phagocytosis

Cells pull particles inward and engulf them in spherical vesicles in an energy-requiring process called endocytosis. Phagocytosis ("cellular eating") is one of three major types of endocytosis. Cells use phagocytosis to take in large objects, such as other cells (or their debris), bacteria, and even viruses.
The objective of phagocytosis is often destruction. Cells use phagocytosis to eliminate unwelcome visitors, like pathogens (e.g., viruses and bacteria). Many immune system cells,...
6.5K