Understanding Plastid Vesicle Transport - Could it Provide Benefit for Human Medicine?
BACKGROUND
In plants, vesicle transport occurs in the secretory pathway in the cytosol, between the membranes of different compartments. Several protein components have been identified to be involved in the process and their functions were characterized. Both cargos and other molecules (such as hormones) have been shown to use vesicle transport, although the major constituents of vesicles are lipids which are transferred from donor to acceptor membranes. In humans, malfunction of the cytosolic vesicle transport system leads to different diseases.


METHODS
To better understand and ultimately cure these human diseases, studying other model systems such as yeast can be beneficial. Plants with their cytosolic vesicle transport system could serve as another model system. However, this review focuses on plant vesicles not present in the cytosol but in the chloroplasts, where lipids produced in the surrounding envelope are transported through the aqueous stroma to the thylakoid membranes. Although chloroplast vesicles have found both biochemical and ultrastructural support, only two proteins have been characterized as components of the pathway. However, using bioinformatics a number of other proteins have been suggested as homologs to the cytosolic system.


CONCLUSIONS
Based on these findings vesicles of chloroplasts are likely most similar to the vesicles trafficking from ER to Golgi, or may even be unique, but important experimental support is yet lacking. In this review, proposed vesicle transport components in chloroplasts are presented, and their possible future implementation for human medicine is discussed.
Department of Biotechnology, University of Malakand, Malakand, Pakistan.
Nadir Zaman
NZ
Khan
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Emelie
E
Lindquist
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Mohamed
M
Alezzawi
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Henrik
H
Aronsson
D001692:Biological Transport; D022181:COP-Coated Vesicles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000378:metabolism; D015794:Choroideremia / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000188:drug therapy; D006995:Hypobetalipoproteinemias / Q000188:drug therapy; D008286:Malabsorption Syndromes / Q000188:drug therapy; D020559:Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D018087:Plastids / Q000378:metabolism*; D050600:SNARE Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use
D050600:SNARE Proteins; C513282:SAR1B protein, human; D020559:Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins; D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins
Chloroplast; Rab; Sar; disease; human; transport; vesicle