Phospholipases and fatty acid signalling in exocytosis
- Corresponding author B. Davletov: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 OQH, UK. Email: email{at}bazbek.com
Abstract
Vesicle fusion is a ubiquitous biological process involved in general membrane trafficking and a variety of specialized events, for example release of neurotransmitters and hormones, sperm acrosome exocytosis, plasma membrane repair and neurite outgrowth. Many vesicle fusion events have long been known to be activated by phospholipases and products of their activity, such as polyunsaturated arachidonic acid. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been proposed to have a number of multiple effectors, including ion channels and the cytoskeleton, but the precise mechanism of PUFA action is still unclear. It was recently reported that omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs can act on syntaxin, a plasma membrane protein directly involved in vesicle fusion. In this review, we will discuss the role of this new mode of PUFA action in exocytosis.
Footnotes
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(Received 18 May 2007; accepted 14 June 2007; first published online 21 June 2007)
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This report was presented at a symposium on Signals and SNAREs regulating vesicle exocytosis, which took place at the Life Sciences 2007 meeting, 9–12 July 2007, Glasgow, UK.
- 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 The Physiological Society
