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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 May 15.
Published in final edited form as: Dev Biol. 2013 Mar 17;377(2):319–332. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2013.03.012

Figure 6. A model for WAVE/SCAR function during endocytosis in C. elegans.

Figure 6

We propose that Arp2/3 is essential for CME, and that one essential NPF during CME is WAVE/SCAR. WAVE/SCAR may be recruited to the plasma membrane by clathrin, F-BAR proteins like the TOCAs and/or Dynamin. WAVE/SCAR components help form a population of early endosomes enriched in RAB-5 and RME-8. Since RAB-11 enrichment is reduced by the loss of WAVE components, while RAB-7 accumulation shifts from the smaller maturing endosomes to the larger late endosomes, WAVE/SCAR may contribute to the static early endosomes (slow pathway) that has been shown to feed into the recycling endosomes in mammalian cells. Therefore WAVE/SCAR may be necessary for at least two steps in endocytosis: movement of vesicles from the plasma membrane to the early endosomes, and the maturation of a subset of early endosomes that supports endocytic recycling.