title: Taking the scenic route: biosynthetic traffic to the plasma membrane in polarized epithelial cells.
abstract: The maintenance of epithelial cell function requires the establishment and continuous renewal of differentiated apical and basolateral plasma membrane domains with distinct lipid and protein compositions. Newly synthesized proteins destined for either surface domain are processed along the biosynthetic pathway and segregated into distinct subsets of transport carriers emanating from the trans-Golgi network. Recent studies have illuminated additional complexities in the subsequent delivery of these proteins to the cell surface. In particular, multiple routes to the apical and basolateral cell surfaces have been uncovered, and many of these involve indirect passage through endocytic compartments. This review summarizes our current understanding of these routes and discusses open issues that remain to be clarified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. h-folsch@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fölsch
authors.forename: Polly E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Mattila
authors.forename: Ora A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Weisz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000502:physiology*; D004705:Endocytosis / Q000502:physiology; D011992:Endosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000378:metabolism; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000502:physiology*; D021601:trans-Golgi Network / Q000378:metabolism