Surfing the Sec61 channel: bidirectional protein translocation across the ER membrane

J Cell Sci. 1999 Dec:112 ( Pt 23):4185-91. doi: 10.1242/jcs.112.23.4185.

Abstract

Misfolded secretory and transmembrane proteins are retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and subsequently degraded. Degradation is primarily mediated by cytosolic proteasomes and thus requires retrograde transport out of the ER back to the cytosol. The available evidence suggests that the protein-conducting channel formed by the Sec61 complex is responsible for both forward and retrograde transport of proteins across the ER membrane. For transmembrane proteins, retrograde transport can be viewed as a reversal of integration of membrane proteins into the ER membrane. Retrograde transport of soluble proteins through the Sec61 channel after signal-peptide cleavage, however, must be mechanistically distinct from signal-peptide-mediated import into the ER through the same channel.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cytosol / metabolism
  • Endoplasmic Reticulum / metabolism*
  • Intracellular Membranes / metabolism
  • Membrane Proteins / metabolism*
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Folding
  • SEC Translocation Channels
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins

Substances

  • Membrane Proteins
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • SEC Translocation Channels
  • SEC61 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins