Fig. 5

Pulse/chase of a soluble (dextran-like) and two membrane-bound (Tf-like and MHC-I-like) cargoes. The molecules were loaded in RabA structures at time 0 of simulation. a-c Association of cargoes with different Rab domains and recycling to the plasma membrane during different chase times. Notice that the membrane markers efficiently recycled to the plasma membrane whereas the soluble marker accumulated in RabD endosomes. d-f Same as in a-c, but when RabB structures were not included in the simulation. Notice that when the RabB compartment was absent, the recycling of Tf was strongly inhibited and that of MHC-I was abolished. In contrast, transport of dextran to late endosomes was only slightly delayed. g and h Same as in A-C (MHC-I not shown), but when cytosolic RabD was set to zero. Notice that when the RabA→RabD switch was inhibited, the recycling of Tf was not impaired, whereas dextran transport to RabD endosomes was diminished and this soluble cargo accumulated in RabB and RabC structures. i Snapshot of a simulation without cytosolic RabD. Notice the presence of large RabB endosomes (cyan). The values for this figure correspond to the average of 8–10 identical simulations