Rabs of the Endosomal Recycling Pathway

The coordinated actions of the endosomal uptake and recycling pathways are one of the main cellular mechanisms for controlling the composition of the plasma membrane. After endocytosis, proteins and membrane lipids usually undergo one of two fates. They are either sent along the degradative pathway to lysosomes where they are broken down, or they are recycled back to the plasma membrane. Molecules that are returned to the plasma membrane can undergo a complex series of sorting events that occur in several organelles, prior to reaching their destination. Several members of the Rab family of small GTPases are key regulators of the endosomal recycling pathway.