Intracellular transport

[2] Eukaryotic cells transport packets of components to particular intracellular locations by attaching them to molecular motors that haul them along microtubules and actin filaments.

Since intracellular transport heavily relies on microtubules for movement, the components of the cytoskeleton play a vital role in trafficking vesicles between organelles and the plasma membrane by providing mechanical support.

Intracellular transport is unique to eukaryotic cells because they possess organelles enclosed in membranes that need to be mediated for exchange of cargo to take place.

Transport vesicles are small structures within the cell consisting of a fluid enclosed by a lipid bilayer that hold cargo.

Small membrane bound vesicles responsible for transporting proteins from one organelle to another are commonly found in endocytic and secretory pathways.

[3] Outbound proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum will bud off into transport vesicles that travel along the cell cortex to reach their specific destinations.

SNAREs are small, tail-anchored proteins which are often post-translationally inserted into membranes that are responsible for the fusion event necessary for vesicles to transport between organelles in the cytosol.

Phagocytosis is of great importance to intracellular transport because once a substance is deemed harmful and engulfed in a vesicle, it can be trafficked to the appropriate location for degradation.

In this manner, microtubules assist the transport of chromosomes towards the spindle poles by utilizing the dynein motor proteins during anaphase.

If the cell is unable to correctly execute components of the intracellular pathway there is the impending possibility for protein aggregates to form.

Growing evidence supports the concept that deficits in axonal transport contributes to pathogenesis in multiple neurodegenerative diseases.