Cell surface recycling in yeast: mechanisms and machineries

Sorting internalized proteins and lipids back to the cell surface controls the supply of molecules throughout the cell and regulates integral membrane protein activity at the surface. One central process in mammalian cells is the transit of cargo from endosomes back to the plasma membrane (PM) directly, along a route that bypasses retrograde movement to the Golgi. Despite recognition of this pathway for decades we are only beginning to understand the machinery controlling this overall process. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a stalwart genetic system, has been routinely used to identify fundamental proteins and their modes of action in conserved trafficking pathways. However, the study of cell surface recycling from endosomes in yeast is hampered by difficulties that obscure visualization of the pathway. Here we briefly discuss how recycling is likely a more prevalent process in yeast than is widely appreciated and how tools might be built to better study the pathway.