New Video Posted: Understanding Vesicle Trafficking and the SNARE Hypothesis

In this video, Understanding Vesicle Trafficking and the SNARE Hypothesis, I look at the SNARE hypothesis and how it helps the targetting of vesicles to the correct membrane.

 

Vesicle trafficking is a crucial cellular process where vesicles transport materials to specific organelles or membranes. This process involves the SNARE hypothesis, where vesicles have vesicle SNAREs (vSNAREs) and target membranes have target SNAREs (tSNAREs). The vSNAREs and tSNAREs recognise each other, ensuring that vesicles dock at the correct membranes.

However, the SNARE proteins are promiscuous and can bind with multiple partners, posing challenges for precise docking. To address this, cells use Tether proteins, which operate over greater distances and add an additional layer of specificity. Tether proteins help vesicles recognise their target membranes, while SNAREs facilitate the fusion process.

This combined mechanism ensures accurate vesicle targeting and fusion, which is regulated by a GTP timer that coordinates the events. 

If you would like to say thanks for the video, then please feel free to buy me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drnickm

Blog Bonus: Free information sheet summarising the video and defining the key terms - download.

New Video Posted: Vesicle Trafficking: How vesicles are formed for trafficking between membranes

Vesicles are crucial for transporting molecules, and they are formed in one of three ways:

1. Clathrin-coated vesicles - Traffic from the Golgi to the endosomes and from the plasma membrane to the endosomes.
2. COPI-coated vesicles - Move from the Golgi to the endoplasmic reticulum, within the Golgi stack, and from the Golgi to the plasma membrane.
3. COPII-coated vesicles - Travel from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi.

In this video, I look at how vesicles are formed and targeted within a cell. 

In the video, I explore some common themes and look at the formation of the coat (clathrin, COPI, or COPII) and the pinching off of the vesicle from the membrane. 

If you would like to say thanks for the fact sheet, then please feel free to buy me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drnickm

Blog Bonus: Free information sheet summarising the video and defining the key terms - download.

New Video Posted: Organelles - Understanding Vesicular Transport

Cells have organelles, and they need to transport the correct molecules to those organelles — if they don't, the cell will not function correctly and will die. 

The cell has three ways of moving molecules around:

1. Vesicular transport
2. Gated transport
3. Transmembrane transport

This video also looks at vesicular transport, which uses small membrane-bound sacs to move proteins, lipids, and other molecules throughout the cell.

The video introduces the concepts of Endocytosis and Exocytosis - including Phagocytosis, Pinocytosis and Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis, along with Constitutive and Regulated Pathways.

If you would like to say thanks for the fact sheet, then please feel free to buy me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drnickm

Blog Bonus: Free information sheet summarising the video and defining the key terms - download.

New Video Posted: Understanding Microscopy: Debunking Misconceptions in Cellular Biology

This was a fun video to make!

In this video, I use bagels to explain how some common misconceptions about the function and shape of organelles came about. I also explore, using images of horses, how we have not fully appreciated the dynamic structure of the cell and vesicle trafficking.

If you would like to say thanks for the fact sheet, then please feel free to buy me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drnickm

Blog Bonus: Free information sheet summarising the video and defining the key terms - download.