Movement within and movement beyond: synaptotagmin-mediated vesicle fusion during chemotaxis.

Leukocyte chemotaxis plays an essential role in generating and delivering immune responses and is a critical component of inflammation. In order to identify novel genes and pathways important for regulating chemotaxis, we performed an RNAi-based screen and identified several genes involved with vesicle movement and fusion as mediators of chemotaxis. Our recently published data show that during chemotaxis vesicle trafficking proteins are required for lysosome fusion, uropod release and efficient directed cell migration.