Crosstalk and Integration of Membrane Trafficking Pathways

Download or read book Crosstalk and Integration of Membrane Trafficking Pathways written by Roberto Weigert and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2012-04-11 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Membrane traffic is a broad field that studies the complex exchange of membranes that occurs inside the cell. Protein, lipids and other molecules traffic among intracellular organelles, and are delivered to, or transported from the cell surface by virtue of membranous carriers generally referred as "transport intermediates". These carriers have different shapes and sizes, and their biogenesis, modality of transport, and delivery to the final destination are regulated by a multitude of very complex molecular machineries. A concept that has clearly emerged in the last decade is that each membrane pathway does not represent a close system, but is fully integrated with all the other trafficking pathways. The aim of this book is to provide a general overview of the extent of this crosstalk.