Phosphoinositides: Regulators of membrane traffic and protein function

Krauß, Michael; Haucke, Volker

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2007.01.089

« Previous Next »FEBS Letters
Volume 581, Issue 11 , Pages 2105-2111, 22 May 2007

Phosphoinositides: Regulators of membrane traffic and protein function

Edited by Thomas Söllner

Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Membrane Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Received 13 December 2006; received in revised form 30 January 2007; accepted 31 January 2007. published online 12 February 2007.

Abstract

Phosphoinositides serve as important spatio-temporal regulators of intracellular trafficking and cell signalling events. In addition to their recognition by specific phosphoinositide binding domains present within cytoplasmic adaptor proteins or membrane integral channels and transporters phosphoinositides may affect membrane transport by eliciting conformational changes within proteins or by regulating enzymatic activities. During adaptor-mediated membrane traffic phosphoinositides form part of coincidence detection systems that aid in targeting pools of specific phosphoinositides to select intracellular transport pathways. In this review, we discuss potential mechanisms for conferring selectivity onto the phosphoinositide code as well as possible avenues for future research.

Keywords: Phosphoinositides, Membrane traffic, Adaptor proteins, Phosphoinositide binding domains, Coincidence detection