膜蛋白运输(membrane protein trafficking)是真核细胞生命活动中最重要的事件之一, 在细胞分裂、分化、生长、胞外营养物质吸收、胞内外信号传递、逆境防御等细胞生物学过程中具有重要功能。膜蛋白运输主要包括胞吞(endocytosis)、胞吐(exocytosis)和液泡/溶酶体降解(vacuolar/lysosomal degradation)等囊泡运输(vesicular trafficking)途径, 而接头蛋白(adaptor protein, AP)在膜受体蛋白识别、货物分拣(cargo sorting)、网格蛋白的招募、装配和拆卸, 以及辅助蛋白的招募等囊泡运输过程中具有重要调控功能。目前, 真核生物中已经发现5种AP复合体, 分别是AP-1、AP-2、AP-3、AP-4和AP-5。本文以动物及酵母细胞AP研究进展为基础, 主要对植物细胞AP复合体的组成、结构、亚细胞定位及其生物学功能进行了综述。并对AP复合体中需要进一步研究的重要科学问题进行了探讨。

Membrane protein trafficking is one of the most important events of eukaryotic cells, which plays a crucial role in cell biology processes such as cell division, differentiation, growth, extracellular nutrient absorption, intracellular signal transduction, and stress defense. Membrane protein transport mainly involves vesicular trafficking pathways including endocytosis, exocytosis, and vacuolar/lysosomal degradation. Adaptor proteins (APs) play an important regulatory role in vesicular trafficking processes such as recognition of membrane receptor proteins, cargo sorting, recruitment and assembly of clathrin, and recruitment of accessory proteins. Currently, five AP complexes have been identified in eukaryotic organisms, namely AP-1, AP-2, AP-3, AP-4, and AP-5. This article mainly reviews the composition, structure, subcellular localization, and biological functions of the plant AP complexes based on the research progress of animal and yeast cell AP. Finally, we initinal some questions about potential function of AP complex and present future perspectives in plants.