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Incoming links: Stop-transfer sequence
Protein targeting Created 2026-10-13 Updated 2026-10-18
Protein targeting directs a protein to its cellular destination. Synthesis in the cytosol does not imply that the protein works there.
For entry into the endoplasmic reticulum, distinguish three questions: does the nascent chain reach the membrane, does part of it cross into the ER lumen, and does a segment remain embedded as a transmembrane protein? Cotranslational protein translocation couples these events to biological translation. A signal peptide can initiate delivery without specifying the eventual destination of the mature protein.
Protein targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum: delivery and three possible outcomes
. Original pathway and membrane topology schematic. The upper row separates SRP recognition, membrane docking and passage through a translocon. Lower cartoons stipulate a soluble cargo, a cleaved signal peptide plus retained stop-transfer sequence, and an uncleaved internal signal anchor. Each drawn terminus is labeled; the internal-anchor orientation is one possibility. Shapes and lengths are illustrative, with no molecular coordinates or measured timings. Details.
This distinction matters experimentally. Finding a protein in a membrane-containing centrifugation pellet could reflect surface binding or protein aggregation. The microsomal protein import experiment instead asks whether an intact membrane prevents an external protease from reaching the product. That tests accessibility across a barrier, rather than proximity to it.
Signal peptidase 2026-10-18
A signal peptidase removes a cleavable signal peptide; a suitable cleavage site and access are required.[ref]
The Endoplasmic Reticulum. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th edition by Bruce Alberts and others; “The ER Signal Sequence Is Removed from Most Soluble Proteins After Translocation”: adjacent cleavage-site requirement
For the stipulated -amino acid residue precursor under ER signal sequence, removal of the first amino acid residues leaves . Now stipulate that positions – of that precursor are instead retained as a stop-transfer sequence. Their positions in the mature chain become –, because the numbering origin changes when the first positions are removed. The mature chain still has amino acid residues, but its membrane-spanning segment is retained. A second hypothetical chain with an uncleaved internal signal anchor loses no positions at all. These are conditional bookkeeping examples, not predictions from invented biological sequences.
Stop-transfer sequence 2026-10-18
A stop-transfer sequence interrupts ongoing passage of a polypeptide chain across a membrane and retains a membrane-spanning segment. Protein targeting, insertion and subsequent sorting involve distinguishable sequence instructions.[ref]
Intracellular protein topogenesis by Günter Blobel. Blobel, Intracellular protein topogenesis, 1980; abstract: signal, stop-transfer, sorting and insertion sequences
In the figure's cleaved-leader example, assume the N-terminus of the mature chain has entered the ER lumen, a stop-transfer sequence remains in the membrane, and the remaining C-terminus is made on the cytosol side. The outcome differs from releasing the entire mature chain into the ER lumen. The latter is soluble cargo, potentially retained there or transported onward; entry alone does not establish secretion.