Cracking the Vault: Generation and analysis of a MVP knockout mouse model

Abstract

In 1986 a novel, large-sized ribonucleoprotein complex was first described. The barrel-shaped structures were initially detected in preparations of clathrin-coated vesicles from rat liver and because they showed a morphology that resembled the vaulted ceilings in cathedrals, the structures were named vaults. It is now known that structures of similar dimension, morphology and composition are present in cells of diverse organisms like protozoa, molluscs, the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, echinoderms, fish, amphibians, avians, and mammals. The high degree of conservation of this large complex points to an important cellular function. Vaults could not be detected in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and are probably not present in Caenorhabitis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster and the plant Arabidopsis spec., i.e., no clear vault protein orthologs could be detected in the genomes of these organisms.