The exocytotic machinery.

Exocytosis is the mechanism by which a vesicle inside the cell fuses with the plasma membrane to release its contents into the extracellular environment. The process might sound trivial but reduced expression or mutations in genes involved can cause a variety of disease states. The exocytotic process is a necessary part of neurotransmitter release from the pre-synaptic side into the synaptic cleft as well as for secretion of hormones from neuroendocrine and endocrine cells. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.