1 <& /page/page_title.mas, title => 'About Secretory Pathways' &>
3 <div class="indented_content" style="width: 80%; margin: 1em auto">
6 The primary route for protein secretion from eukaryotic cells is
7 termed the classical, or endoplasmic reticulum
8 (ER)/Golgi-dependent, secretory pathway. Briefly, secreted
9 eukaryotic proteins utilize an N-terminal signal peptide (SP) to
10 direct their co-translation on ER-bound ribosomes into the ER
11 lumen, after which they progress through the endomembrane system
12 and are ultimately exported to the extracellular environment, or
13 cell surface. It should be noted that these represent a subset of
14 SP-containing proteins, since others are retained in the ER or
15 Golgi or are redirected to other compartments, such as the vacuole.
18 <div style="width: 500px" class="captioned_image">
20 <img src="/documents/img/secretom/classical_secretory_pathway_400.png" />
24 Schematic diagram of the plant classical secretory pathway,
25 highlighting protein co-translational translocation from ER-bound
26 ribosomes in the ER lumen and the subsequent major trafficking
27 pathways (N, nucleus; ER, endoplasmic reticulum, Chl, chloroplast;
28 TGN, trans-Golgi network; PVC pre-vacuolar compartment; PM, plasma
29 membrane; CW, cell wall). Adapted from
30 <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18627574">Foresti and
39 There is also growing evidence that plant proteins can be secreted
40 to the apoplast via routes that are independent of the ER-Golgi
41 pathway. Such proteins do not have canonical signal peptides and
42 treatment with chemical inhibitors, such as brefeldin A, which
43 disrupt vesicle trafficking between the ER and Golgi, and does not
44 perturb secretion. While such non-classical pathways have been
45 studied in <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16356720">yeast</a>
46 and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19122676">mammalian
47 cells</a>, and a <a href="http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/SecretomeP/">
48 search tool</a> is available for such mammalian proteins,
49 essentially nothing is yet known about such pathways in
50 plants. This will be addressed in this project.