On the fate of early endosomes

Proteins are endocytosed by various pathways into the cell. All these pathways converge at the level of the early endosome. The fate of the early endosome and how proteins are sorted into recycling and late endosomes/MVB is a matter of debate and intense research. Obviously the transition from early to late endosome poses an interesting logistic problem and would merit attention on the intellectual level. Numerous diseases are also caused by defects in turning off/over signaling molecules or mis-sorting of proteins already at the level of the early endosome. This review aims to discuss different molecular mechanisms by which early-to-late endosome transition could be achieved.