Endocytosis: Relation to Capping and Cell Locomotion

Most mammalian cells, such as fibroblasts, continuously internalize part of their surface membrane by endocytosis, and then later return it to the cell surface. This cyclical process is initiated by coated pits in the plasma membrane. These pits collect specific receptors plus lipid for internalization, but exclude other proteins. On a motile cell, the sites of endocytosis (randomly located on the…