Clathrin-mediated endocytosis

Abstract

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is the main portal of entry into the cell for many soluble and membrane molecules. Clathrin-coated vesicles are formed from the plasma membrane in a sequence of coordinated protein-lipid and protein-protein interactions, starting with adaptor-mediated recruitment of clathrin to the membrane, proceeding to clathrin polymerization and assembly into deeply curved coated buds, and ending with the dynamin-dependent scission of a coated vesicle. Clathrin coats trap and concentrate endocytic cargo by using a multitude of adaptor proteins that recognize specific sequence motifs in the cytosolic domains of receptors and other transmembrane cargo molecules. Endocytic cargo that is concentrated in this manner, such as signaling receptors, may regulate the stability, size, and dynamics of individual clathrin coats and thereby influence endocytosis.