Protein trafficking along the exocytotic pathway.

Proteins of the exocytotic (secretory) pathway are initially targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and then translocated across and/or inserted into the membrane of the ER. During their anterograde transport with the bulk of the membrane flow along the exocytotic pathway, some proteins are selectively retained in various intracellular compartments, while others are sorted to different branches of the pathway. The signals or structural motifs that are involved in these selective targeting processes are being revealed and investigations into the mechanistic nature of these processes are actively underway.