Rab Proteins and the Organization of Organelle Membrane Domains

Many critical cellular processes, like vesicular transport and signaling, rely on the establishment and maintenance of membrane domains. Membrane domains consist of a cluster of specific lipids and proteins that provide membranes with a distinct molecular identity. Rab GTPases are one of the main coordinators of membrane domain formation and dynamics. In this chapter, we will give a brief introduction into Rab GTPases and focus on how they create and coordinate membrane domains. This will include an in-depth look into the Rab effectors and binding partners that define membrane domains. Throughout we will highlight how these proteins are regulated such as via feedback and feed-forward loops to create cascades. Finally, we propose that signaling domains on organelles are also coordinated by Rab GTPases.