Coated vesicle adaptors  

Cells are filled with organelles, or ‘little organs’, each with its own particular function. We investigate how adaptor proteins selectively package molecules into coated vesicles so they can be transported from one organelle to another. This process is essential for normal cell function and it is disrupted in certain diseases where pathogens, such as HIV, hijack adaptors. Some genetic disorders are also caused by mutations in adaptors.

We will use a combination of microscopy, including live cell imaging, biochemistry and structural biology on different types of cells to find out how adaptors select cargo, how this is related to what happens to the vesicles after they form, and why mutations in two adaptors – AP-4 and AP-5 – cause neurological disorders.