Question

How do protein coats select the cargo molecules to be carried by the vesicles they help to form?

1) They electromagnetically attract the correct cargo proteins.
2) The protein coats have a specific affinity for the cytosolic tails of integral membrane proteins that reside in the donor membrane.
3) The coats have a specific affinity for the luminal tails of integral membrane proteins that reside in the donor membrane.
4) The coat proteins directly attach to the cargo proteins in the lumen of the forming vesicles.
5) The coat proteins attach to the extracellular matrix.

Answer 1

Protein coats use specific affinity with the cytosolic tails of integral membrane proteins to select cargo for vesicle transport, which is critical in receptor-mediated endocytosis and clathrin-coated vesicle formation.

Step-by-step explanation:

Protein coats select the cargo molecules to be carried by vesicles through the specific affinity for the cytosolic tails of integral membrane proteins that reside in the donor membrane. This is how the protein coats identify and target the correct cargo proteins to encapsulate during vesicle formation.

Receptor-mediated endocytosis involves substances binding to receptors on the plasma membrane. These receptors aggregate in coated pits, where clathrin and adaptor proteins like AP1 assist in the formation of clathrin-coated vesicles, targeting and packaging specific cargo proteins for transport within the cell. Post-internalization, vesicles fuse with endosomes or lysosomes, delivering their content for cellular use.