title: Insights into COPI coat assembly and function in living cells.
abstract: Eukaryotic cells use an elaborate machinery involving the COPI coat complex to control protein trafficking in the secretory pathway. Although individual components of this complex are well known and their roles in deforming lipid membranes into coated carriers are well described, the precise sequence of molecular events by which these components assemble into and release from the COPI coat lattice remains unclear. Here, we present images and movies characterizing the dynamics of protein components of the COPI coat in living cells. We discuss the self-assembly of these coat components into a molecular machine for sorting and trafficking membranes.
authors.affiliation: Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Building 18T Room 101, 18 Library Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-5430, USA. jlippin@helix.nih.gov
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lippincott-Schwartz
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D020823:ADP-Ribosylation Factor 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D020126:Brefeldin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D020755:Coat Protein Complex I / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D006801:Humans; D008566:Membranes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C503237:ARFGAP1 protein, human; D020755:Coat Protein Complex I; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins; D020126:Brefeldin A; D020823:ADP-Ribosylation Factor 1