Secretory lysosomes - a special mechanism of regulated secretion in haemopoietic cells.
The secretory granules o f cells derived from the haemopoietic lineage are 'secretory lysosomes' containing both lysosomal hydrolases and secretory proteins. Studies on cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) have elucidated several of the mechanisms that regulate protein sorting to, and secretion from, this unusual secretory organelle. In particular, recent findings from a CTL mutant have led to the hypothesis that CTLs, and other cells of the haemopoietic lineage, use specialized sorting and secretory mechanisms in which the lysosome functions as a regulated secretory granule.
Griffiths
G M
GM
MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, Gower St, London, UK WC1E 6BT. gillian.griffiths@ucl.ac.uk