coated pit

American  

noun

Cell Biology.

1. a clathrin-lined depression in the outer surface of a cell membrane, formed of receptors and their specific ligands, that becomes a coated vesicle upon endocytosis.

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Example Sentences

Synaptic vesicles typically cycle through several stages: docking at the plasma membrane of the synaptic terminal; exocytosis through fusion with the plasma membrane in a calcium-dependent manner; the formation of a coated pit at the plasma membrane, which is enabled by a protein coating that is composed of numerous clathrin proteins and other protein components; endocytosis; recycling into a readily releasable pool of synaptic vesicles; and, re-docking with the plasma membrane133.

From Nature

Synaptic vesicles typically cycle through several stages: docking at the plasma membrane of the synaptic terminal; exocytosis through fusion with the plasma membrane in a calcium-dependent manner; the formation of a coated pit at the plasma membrane, which is enabled by a protein coating that is composed of numerous clathrin proteins and other protein components; endocytosis; recycling into a readily releasable pool of synaptic vesicles; and, re-docking with the plasma membrane133.

From Nature