Receptor/Ligand Sorting Along the Endocytic Pathway

This research monograph focuses on a biomolecular separation process that occurs within most cells. Two types of molecules, receptors and ligands, are separated and routed along different intracellular pathways; this is a critical step in the process of receptor-mediated endocytosis. The development of an understanding of the basic mechanisms of this separation process is presented, with an emphasis on discovering the fundamental and measurable parameters that influence the event. Mathematical models of sorting are evaluated to predict the range of possible outcomes. These are compared with a variety of experimental data on different receptor/ligand systems. In addition, the influence of the separation on overall receptor/ligand processing dynamics is discussed. The book is intended for both biomathematicians and biologists. It is not necessary to understand the details of the model equations and their solution in order to test the models experimentally. The analysis suggests experiments that might be done to further investigate the sorting process and the text details methods for analyzing these experimental results.