Structure-function relationship of the small GTPase rab5

A regulatory role for ARF6 in receptor-mediated endocytosis

Adenosine diphosphate-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6), ARF6 mutants, and ARF1 were transiently expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells, and the effects on receptor-mediated endocytosis were assessed. Overexpressed ARF6 localized to the cell periphery and led to a redistribution of transferrin receptors to the cell surface and a decrease in the rate of uptake of transferrin. Similar results were obtained when a mutant defective in guanosine triphosphate hydrolysis was expressed. Expression of a dominant negative mutant, ARF6(T27N), resulted in an intracellular distribution of transferrin receptors and an inhibition of transferrin recycling to the cell surface. In contrast, overexpression of ARF1 had little or no effect on these parameters of endocytosis.

Rab3 proteins: key players in the control of exocytosis

Although some mechanistic aspects of exocytosis, such as fusion events, have been well documented by the technique of time-resolved membrane-capacitance measurement, it was only recently that new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in the traffic of secretory vesicles were provided by the convergence of different lines of research. In this review Lledo et al. present some of the recent findings concerning small GTPases of the Rab3 subfamily which regulate hormone release, triggered by entry of Ca2+, in endocrine and neuroendocrine cells. In view of these new results, Rab proteins might be considered as candidates for inhibition or stimulation of specific steps involved in vesicle traffic.