Receptor-mediated endocytosis

This process forms vesicles containing the absorbed substances and is strictly mediated by receptors on the surface of the cell.

Although receptors and their ligands can be brought into the cell through a few mechanisms (e.g. caveolin and lipid raft), clathrin-mediated endocytosis remains the best studied.

The ligand and receptor will then recruit adaptor proteins and clathrin triskelions to the plasma membrane around where invagination will take place.

Once fused, the endocytosed cargo (receptor and/or ligand) can then be sorted to lysosomal, recycling, or other trafficking pathways.

However, receptor-mediated endocytosis is also actively implicated in transducing signals from the cell periphery to the nucleus.