Introduction: Regulatory processes, an emerging feature in intracellular membrane traffic

The subject of this volume is the molecular mechanism of the intracellular membrane trafficking, a central eukaryotic cell biological process. In the post genomic era, essential molecules involved in intracellular membrane/protein transport are emerging with increasing pace. The present challenge is to compile the molecular networks that govern these processes. Understanding of regulatory processes and participating molecules are likely to reveal global cellular regulatory circuits that couple membrane trafficking with other cellular functions. The part of the membrane transport machinery, which forms stabile protein complexes is rather well known already. However, the regulatory mechanisms that link these more stabile complexes to other cellular functions are only starting to emerge. This book focuses on the regulatory aspects of this process.