How Does the Phospholipid Bilayer Bend for Vesicle Transport?

💡 The Answer

• Curvature-inducing proteins like clathrin and BAR domains bend the bilayer into pits and buds.
• Specific lipids with conical shapes (e.g., PE) localize to curved regions to stabilize bending.
• Phosphorylation of phosphoinositides recruits bending machinery to precise membrane sites.
• Without this bending, endocytosis and exocytosis could not package cargo or release neurotransmitters.