Hemifusome

Hemifusomes are intracellular organelles first described in 2025 by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Virginia School of Medicine.[1][2] Discovered using in situ cryo-electron tomography, hemifusomes are heterotypic vesicular complexes marked by a persistent hemifusion diaphragm and a characteristic 42-nanometer proteolipid nanodroplet (PND). These organelles account for up to 10% of vesicular structures at the cell periphery and often contain intraluminal vesicles, but they do not participate in conventional endocytic pathways. Hemifusomes are proposed to act as platforms for vesicle biogenesis via an ESCRT-independent mechanism for multivesicular body formation. Their shape has been likened to a snowman wearing a scarf.

References

  1. ^ Clark, Gaby; Egan, Robert, eds. (June 25, 2025). "Scientists discover unknown organelle inside our cells". University of Virginia. Retrieved 2025-07-09 – via phys.org.
  2. ^ Tavakoli, Amirrasoul; Hu, Shiqiong; Ebrahim, Seham; Kachar, Bechara (May 17, 2025). "Hemifusomes and interacting proteolipid nanodroplets mediate multi-vesicular body formation". Nature Communications. 16 (1): 4609. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-59887-9. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 12085569.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.