IJMCM Vol 4, No 1 Dr. Roy [ARaRVTScp] 93-09-03

Membrane/protein trafficking in the secretory/biosynthetic and endocytic pathways is mediated by vesicles. Vesicle trafficking in eukaryotes is regulated by a class of small monomeric GTPases: the Rab protein family. Rab proteins represent the largest branch of the Ras superfamily GTPases, and have been concerned in a variety of intracellular vesicle trafficking and different intracellular signalling pathways. Rab11 (a subfamily of the Ypt/Rab gene family), an evolutionarily conserved ubiquitously expressed subfamily of Rab GTPases, has been implicated in regulating vesicular trafficking through the recycling of endosomes. Rabs have been grouped into different subfamilies based on the distinct unambiguous sequence motifs. Three members: Rab11a, Rab11b and Rab25 make up the Rab11 GTPase subfamily. In this review article, we describe an overview over Rab11 subfamily with a brief structural aspect and its roles in implicating different disease progression.