Scope

The Specialty Membrane Traffic publishes research that seeks to understand the processes and function of protein and lipid transport within and between the cell’s endomembranous organelles and its plasma membrane. The study of membrane traffic is now a well-established area of research, and one that is widely visible and resulted in several Nobel prizes (Albert Claude, George Palade, and Christian DeDuve in 1974, Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein in 1985, Gunter Blobel in 1999, and most recently James Rothman, Randy Schekman, and Thomas Südhof in 2013 ). Thus, our section will continue to publish studies that endeavor to understand the fundamental mechanisms of membrane biogenesis and turnover, as well as the processes that regulate intercompartmental and interorganellar transport.

The last decade of research has shown that membrane traffic plays critical roles in varied cellular functions including the regulation of secretion, degradation, cell-cell adhesion, cytokinesis, partitioning of organelles during mitosis, ion transport, and mechanotransduction. Hence, an additional goal of the Membrane Traffic Specialty is to promote work that explores how membrane flux is integrated into the control of cellular functions including autophagy, cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, cell metabolism and solute transport, mechanotransduction, mitosis, cell motility, cellular polarity and differentiation, intra- and inter-cellular signaling, and cellular regeneration, repair, and death.

One of the most exciting revolutions occurring in science today is the integration of diverse fields of study, so that research in membrane traffic is contributing to the fields of developmental biology, immunology, microbiology, molecular genetics, neurobiology, parasitology, pathobiology, and physiology. As such, Membrane Traffic will also devote special attention to publishing multidisciplinary research that seeks to understand how membrane traffic contributes to complex processes including, but not limited to, migration and homing of cancer cells, epithelial polarization and morphogenesis, and embryological development.

Finally, membrane traffic research is being advanced and fortified by the tools and concepts once the exclusive domains of developmental biologists, computational biologists, geneticists, and structural biologists. We invite multidisciplinary studies of cellular function using cell culture, vertebrates and invertebrates, in vivo models, and involving genetically amenable species such as Caenorhabditis elegans, Danio rerio, Drosophila melanogaster, and mice, as well as any other species suited to elucidate fundamental principles of membrane traffic. Furthermore, we welcome submissions that employ computational and structural methods, as well manuscripts that describe new techniques and their applications to membrane traffic and cell biology.

Submission

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