Cell compartments and intracellular trafficking of lipids and proteins: Impact on biomedicine

Abstract

Endocytosis and cell compartments define eukaryotic cells and evolution has sculpted a complex subset of intracellular structures to arrange the modern cell. This process has been long, implicating each single organelle to eventually develop a functional consortium where spatio-temporal distribution becomes essential. Because of this intrinsic extreme complexity minor alterations must be repaired, replaced, or undergo reorganization. This is also important when it comes to biochemical processes within and between cellular compartments developing a new concept that implicates cell compartments not to function as individual and isolated entities, but as a dynamic and regulated ensemble facilitating the intracellular trafficking of lipids and proteins. The diverse intracellular compartments contribute to a global cell homeostasis and alterations provide new insights relevant for a number of human diseases and offer opportunities for the design of innovative therapies and treatments.