recycling endosome

GO:0055037 · Membrane organelle · Membrane bounded organelle · Proposed

An organelle consisting of a network of tubules that functions in targeting molecules, such as receptors transporters and lipids, to the plasma membrane. [GO:0055037]

Synonyms: endosomal recycling compartment; endosome recycling compartment; ERC

Has part: recycling endosome lumen (GO:0034777); recycling endosome membrane (GO:0055038)

Xrefs: uniprot.location:SL-0232 — Recycling endosome

UniProt location names: UniProt Consortium, CC BY 4.0. Reference label and route sources.

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Genes	Stoichiometry	Essential	Role
recycling endosome membrane	Lipid	part of	`GO:0055038`			ESSENTIAL	Lipid-bilayer boundary that surrounds the recycling endosome and carries cargo and trafficking machinery during plasma-membrane recycling. `GO:0055038` GO:0055038 identifies the lipid bilayer surrounding a recycling endosome. `GO:0055037` GO:0055037 defines the recycling endosome as an organelle that targets molecules back to the plasma membrane.

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:5691 Trypanosoma brucei — VARIABLE: Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream and procyclic cells contain TbRAB11-positive endosomal structures carrying recycling cargo, with stronger TbRAB11 expression and a more elaborate TbRAB11 compartment in bloodstream-stage cells. [PMID:11683389]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:5691 Trypanosoma brucei — African trypanosome whose Rab11-positive endosomal compartment colocalizes with transferrin receptor and internalized anti-variant surface glycoprotein cargo. [PMID:11683389]

Functions

endocytic cargo recycling — Recycling endosomes return internalized cargo toward the cell surface; in Trypanosoma brucei, TbRAB11-positive compartments support recycling of transferrin and anti-VSG antibody cargo through the endosomal system.
- GO:0055037 GO:0055037 defines the recycling endosome by its role in targeting molecules to the plasma membrane.
- PMID:12744719 Pal et al. 2003 used live-cell recycling assays and Rab mutants to implicate TbRAB11 in Trypanosoma brucei transferrin and anti-VSG antibody recycling.
- PMID:29582527 Umaer, Bush and Bangs 2018 showed that TbRab11 mediates selective recycling and endocytic trafficking in Trypanosoma brucei.

Mechanism graphs

Recycling endosome topology and Rab11 cargo recycling (FUNCTION)

The recycling endosome is an endosome subtype bounded by a membrane around a lumenal compartment and marked in Trypanosoma brucei by Rab11-positive endosomal structures that carry recycling cargo.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
recycling endosome	is a	endosome	`GO:0055037` GO places the recycling endosome under the endosome class. `GO:0005768` GO term for the broader endosome class.
recycling endosome membrane	is part of	recycling endosome	`GO:0055038` GO identifies the recycling endosome membrane.
recycling endosome lumen	is part of	recycling endosome	`GO:0034777` GO defines the recycling endosome lumen as the volume enclosed by recycling endosome membranes.
recycling endosome membrane	bounds	recycling endosome lumen	`GO:0055038` GO identifies the membrane surrounding a recycling endosome. `GO:0034777` GO defines the recycling endosome lumen by membrane enclosure.
TbRAB11	localizes to	recycling endosome	`PMID:11683389` Jeffries, Morgan and Field 2001 localized TbRAB11 to T. brucei endosomal structures carrying recycling cargo.
TbRAB11	supports	endocytic recycling	`PMID:12744719` Pal et al. 2003 implicated TbRAB11 in transferrin and anti-VSG antibody recycling. `PMID:29582527` Umaer, Bush and Bangs 2018 found that TbRab11 mediates selective recycling in the T. brucei endocytic pathway.

Discussions

INTERPRETATION (RESOLVED): Treat TbRAB11 as marker and regulatory evidence rather than as a recycling-endosome structural component. The Trypanosoma brucei evidence uses TbRAB11 localization and perturbation to identify recycling endosomal traffic, but Rab11 is a small GTPase marker/regulator and not a constituent of the lipid-bounded compartment itself.

Evidence

GO:0055037 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for recycling endosome.
GO:0005768 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for endosomes.
GO:0055038 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the recycling endosome membrane.
GO:0034777 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the recycling endosome lumen.
uniprot.location:SL-0232 — Recycling endosome UniProt Subcellular Location entry SL-0232 maps Recycling endosome to GO:0055037 and places it under Endosome.
PMID:11683389 Jeffries, Morgan and Field 2001, A developmentally regulated rab11 homologue in Trypanosoma brucei is involved in recycling processes, Journal of Cell Science.
PMID:12744719 Pal, Hall, Jeffries and Field 2003, Rab5 and Rab11 mediate transferrin and anti-variant surface glycoprotein antibody recycling in Trypanosoma brucei, Biochemical Journal.
PMID:29582527 Umaer, Bush and Bangs 2018, Rab11 mediates selective recycling and endocytic trafficking in Trypanosoma brucei, Traffic.

Curation history

2026-09-22T19:14:22Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-22T19:15:36Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added endosome parentage, recycling-endosome membrane and lumen parts, UniProt SL-0232 xref, GO synonyms, a membrane component, Trypanosoma brucei Rab11 recycling evidence, GO/UniProt/PubMed evidence, a nonmechanistic topology and cargo-recycling graph, and a resolved TbRAB11 component-boundary discussion.
2026-09-22T19:31:49Z codex · REFINED_INITIAL_CURATION — Retargeted the TbRAB11 component-boundary discussion from a bare components anchor to the whole record so discussion anchors resolve.
2026-09-22T19:42:53Z codex · ADDRESSED_PR_REVIEW — Addressed PR #1315 review issues #1316 and #1317 by renaming the function from a Rab11-centric label to endocytic cargo recycling and retargeting the TbRAB11 graph edge from a generic cargo node to a BIOLOGICAL_PROCESS endocytic-recycling node.

Source: data/structures/membrane_organelle/recycling_endosome.yaml