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The exocyst complex in exocytosis and cell migration

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Abstract

Exocytosis is a fundamental membrane trafficking event in eukaryotic cells in which membrane proteins or lipids are incorporated into the plasma membrane and vesicle contents are secreted to the exterior of the cell. The exocyst, an evolutionarily conserved octameric protein complex, plays a crucial role in the targeting of secretory vesicles to the plasma membrane during exocytosis. The exocyst has been shown to be involved in diverse cellular processes requiring polarized exocytosis such as yeast budding, epithelial polarity establishment, and neurite outgrowth. Recently, the exocyst has also been implicated in cell migration through mechanisms independent of its role in exocytosis. In this review, we will first summarize our knowledge on the exocyst complex at a molecular and structural level. Then, we will discuss the specific functions of the exocyst in exocytosis in various cell types. Finally, we will review the emerging roles of the exocyst during cell migration and tumor cell invasion.

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Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Dr. John Schmidt in the Guo lab for thorough reading of the manuscript prior to submission. The work in Wei Guo’s laboratory has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, Pew Scholars Program in Biomedical Sciences and American Heart Association.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Jianglan Liu & Wei Guo

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Correspondence to Wei Guo.

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Liu, J., Guo, W. The exocyst complex in exocytosis and cell migration. Protoplasma 249, 587–597 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-011-0330-1

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