The YIP1 family comprises an evolutionarily conserved group of membrane proteins, which share the ability to bind di-prenylated Rab proteins. The biochemical capability of YIP1 family proteins suggests a possible role in the cycle of physical localization of Rab proteins between their cognate membranes and the cytosol. YIP1 is essential for viability in yeast and a deletion of YIP1 can be rescu...

Tight junctions (TJs) and adherens junctions (AJs) comprise epithelial apical junctions that adhere neighboring epithelial cells and determine tissue organization. They are highly dynamic structures that undergo continuous remodeling during physiological morphogenesis and under pathological conditions. The assembly and disassembly of epithelial apical junctions is regulated by the interplay bet...

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 intro...

Rab proteins are small GTPases that regulate transport between the different compartments of the endomembrane system in eukaryotic cells. Here, we show that Rab7b, a Rab that controls the transport between late endosomes and the trans Golgi network, interacts directly with myosin II. We illustrate the functional relevance of this interaction, demonstrating that myosin II mediates the transport ...

Rab proteins, one of the subfamilies of ras-like small GTP-binding proteins, are attached to cellular compartments or transport vesicles and may determine the specificity of fusion between these compartments and vesicles. It has been proposed that they alternate between a membrane-bound and a cytosolic state during their functional cycle. We have used a photo-crosslinking approach to identify t...

Of the approximately 70 human Rab GTPases, nearly three-quarters are involved in endocytic trafficking. Significant plasticity in endosomal membrane transport pathways is closely coupled to receptor signaling and Rab GTPase-regulated scaffolds. Here we review current literature pertaining to endocytic Rab GTPase localizations, functions, and coordination with regulatory proteins and effectors. ...

Rab GTPases are master regulators of intracellular trafficking and, in recent years, their role in the control of different aspects of tumour progression has emerged. In the present review, we show that Rab GTPases are disregulated in many cancers and have central roles in tumour cell migration, invasion, proliferation, communication with stromal cells and the development of drug resistance. As...

The intracellular pathogen Brucella abortus survives and replicates inside host cells within an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-derived replicative organelle named the "Brucella-containing vacuole" (BCV). Here, we developed a subcellular fractionation method to isolate BCVs and characterize for the first time the protein composition of its replicative niche. After identification of BCV membrane prot...

Small GTPases of the rab family are involved in the regulation of vesicular transport. The restricted distribution of each of these proteins in mammalian cells has led to the suggestion that different rab proteins act at different steps of transport (Pryer, N. K., L. J. Wuestehube, and R. Sheckman. 1992. Annu Rev. Biochem. 61:471-516; Zerial, M., and H. Stenmark. 1993. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 5:...

Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) and differential display reverse transcription PCR (DDRT-PCR) were performed in floral organs of Beta vulgaris monosomic addition line M14 (BvM14) (2n=18+1) and a control of Beta vulgaris L. (2n=18). One of the differential genes was designated as BvM14 rat sarcoma-like protein from brain, i.e., BvM14-Rab. The full length of BvM14-Rab was obtained by ...