Secretory Pathways

MAZEN AHMED
Secretory Pathways
Secretory Pathway

*Proteins are synthesized on the Rough ER.

* Move via vesicles to Golgi
* Move via vesicles to Plasma membrane
Protein Transport : 3 mechansims

 1- Nuclear import

 2- Protein translocators - protein pores in the membrane that help unfolded proteins get
into membranes

 3 – Transport Vesicles – membrane vesicles pinch off a donor compartment, fuse with a
recipient compartment and carry both:
 - Soluble proteins in lumen
 - membrane proteins associated with bilayer
Protein Targeting

 Sorting signals are necessary to direct a protein to a particular organelle.

1- Nuclear localization signal
2-ER signal sequence
3-KDEL- retention in the ER lumen

4- Mitochondria/chloroplast signal sequence

Proteins destined for nucleus, chloroplast,
mitochondria, and peroxisome are made in cytosol on
free ribosomes
Nuclear localization Signal

 - On soluble, folded nuclear proteins, made on free ribosomes in the cytosol

 - Contains one or two short sequences with positively charged amino acids

 - Bind Nuclear import receptors in cytoplasm

 - Move into nucleus through nuclear pores

ER Signal Sequence

 - Protein Translocator = at N terminal

 - Consists of hydrophobic amino acids
 - Causes proteins meant for secretory pathway to enter the ER

 - Retention signal = KDEL

 - Used to target “resident proteins” of ER to get back to ER from Golgi after sorting
Mitochondria/chloroplast
Signal Sequence

 - Protein translocator for proteins made on free ribosomes destined for mitochondria and
chloroplast
 - signal sequence at N terminal
 What if the sequence is moved to C terminal?
Models of Golgi Function

 There are two competing theories:

Cisternal progression model: New cisternae form continuously from ER vesicles.

Cisternae move through the
stack from cis to trans and finally
break up into transport vesicles at the
trans face.
Vesicle transport model

 Cisternae remain fixed.

 Both membrane and content move
 from the cis to the trans
 cisternae in transport vesicles.