The small GTPases Rab are key regulators of intracellular membrane trafficking, from the formation of transport vesicles to their fusion with membranes. Rabs cycle between an inactive GDP-bound form and an active GTP-bound form that is able to recruit to membranes different set of downstream effectors directly responsible for vesicle formation, movement, tethering and fusion. That Rab is involved in transcytosis, the directed movement of endocytosed material through the cell and its exocytosis from the plasma membrane at the opposite side. Mainly observed in epithelial cells, transcytosis mediates for instance, the transcellular transport of immunoglobulins from the basolateral surface to the apical surface. Most probably controls membrane trafficking through apical recycling endosomes in a post-endocytic step of transcytosis. Required for melanosome transport and release from melanocytes, it also regulates dendrite and dendritic spine development. May also play a role in cell migration.
