Components of the CtBP1/BARS-dependent fission machinery.

The brefeldin A ADP-ribosylated substrate, a member of the C-terminal-binding protein family that is referred to as CtBP1/BARS, is a dual-function protein that acts as a transcriptional co-repressor in the nucleus and as an inducer of membrane fission in the cytoplasm. In this review, we first discuss the mechanisms that enable CtBP1/BARS to shift between the nuclear transcriptional co-repressor and the cytosolic fission-inducing activities. Then, we focus on the role of CtBP1/BARS in membrane fission. CtBP1/BARS controls several fission events including macropinocytosis, fluid-phase endocytosis, COPI-coated vesicle formation, basolaterally directed post-Golgi carrier formation, and Golgi partitioning in mitosis. We report on recent advances in our understanding of the CtBP1/BARS membrane fission machineries that operate at the trans-side and at the cis-side of the Golgi complex. Specifically, we discuss how these machineries are assembled and regulated, and how they operate in the formation of the basolaterally directed post-Golgi carriers.