Peroxisomes: Membrane events accompanying peroxisome proliferation

Peroxisomes are ubiquitous organelles surrounded by a single membrane that display a variety of metabolic functions. These vary with the organism in which they occur and with environmental conditions. Peroxisomes multiply by division of existing organelles and can be formed from ER. The peroxisomal membrane, akin to the organelle itself, is a very dynamic structure that obtains building blocks from the ER. It can form diverse organized structures - lipid domains - that can be involved in regulation of various vesicle fusion processes. Additionally, this membrane may undergo extensive changes in lipid composition. We recently showed that upon proliferation the peroxisomal membrane changes its curvature in response to the activity of the peroxisomal membrane protein Pex11. Tubulation of the organelle may be important for efficient recruitment of GTPases from the dynamin protein family that is involved in organelle fission. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.