Early endosomal antigen 1 (EEA1) is a 162 kDa
membrane bound protein component specific to the early endosome
and is essential for fusion between early endocytic vesicles. Early
endosomes are cytoplasmic compartments which fuse with endocytic
vesicles for redistribution of extracellular compounds to alternate
destinations. Zinc-finger-like domains, reminiscent of those found
in nucleic acid binding proteins, are located in the amino and
carboxyl-terminal domains of EEA1. The carboxyl-terminal zinc-finger-like-domain
is conserved in several other non-nuclear proteins, some of which
are also involved in intracellular protein trafficking. In addition,
this domain is an authentic zinc-binding domain and is critical
to the intracellular localization of EEA1. Membrane association
of EEA1 has been shown dependent on phosphatidyl 3-kinase activity,
inhibitors of which cause EEA1 to dissociate from early endosomes.
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