ABSTRACT
Endocytosis is the cellular process for membrane vesicular transport between the plasma membrane (PM) and cytoplasmic membrane compartments as well as within the intracellular membrane system. Receptor-mediated endocytosis (RME) controls many essential cellular activities, including the transmission of neuronal, metabolic, and proliferative signals; the uptake of many essential macromolecules; the delivery of proteins involved in these processes and the recycling of other proteins to the Golgi for reusability; and the effective defense against invading microorganisms. Several recent reviews have discussed particular aspects of the endocytic pathways (Bu and Schwartz et al, 1994; Marsh and McMahon, 1999; Brodin et al, 2000; Lemmon and Traub, 2000; Brodsky et al, 2001; Gruenberg, 2001; Simonsen et al, 2001; Takei and Haucke, 2001; Pelham, 2002).
