recycling endosome membrane

GO:0055038 · Membrane organelle · Membrane · Proposed

The lipid bilayer surrounding a recycling endosome. [GO:0055038]

Synonyms: recycling endosomal membrane

Part of: recycling endosome (GO:0055037)

Xrefs: uniprot.location:SL-0231 — Recycling endosome membrane

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Genes	Stoichiometry	Essential	Role
recycling endosome membrane lipid bilayer	Lipid	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)			ESSENTIAL	Lipid-bilayer constituent that forms the boundary of a recycling endosome and separates its lumen from the cytosol. `GO:0055038` GO:0055038 defines the recycling endosome membrane as the lipid bilayer surrounding a recycling endosome. `GO:0034777` GO:0034777 defines the recycling endosome lumen by enclosure within recycling-endosome membranes.

NCBITaxon:5691 Trypanosoma brucei — VARIABLE: Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream and procyclic cells contain TbRAB11-positive endosomal recycling compartments carrying transferrin receptor cargo. [PMID:11683389]

NCBITaxon:5691 Trypanosoma brucei — Kinetoplastid parasite whose TbRAB11-positive endosomal recycling compartments instantiate recycling-endosome limiting membranes around transferrin receptor cargo. [PMID:11683389]

recycling endosome membrane compartmentalization — The recycling endosome membrane compartmentalizes the recycling endosome lumen as the lipid-bilayer boundary of a plasma-membrane recycling compartment.
- GO:0055038 GO:0055038 defines the recycling endosome membrane as the lipid bilayer surrounding a recycling endosome.
- GO:0034777 GO:0034777 defines the recycling endosome lumen as the volume enclosed by recycling-endosome membranes.

The recycling endosome membrane is a specialized endosome membrane that forms part of the recycling endosome and bounds its lumen.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
recycling endosome membrane	is a	endosome membrane	`GO:0055038` GO:0055038 identifies recycling endosome membrane as an endosome-membrane child. `GO:0010008` GO:0010008 defines the broader endosome membrane class.
recycling endosome membrane	is part of	recycling endosome	`GO:0055038` GO:0055038 defines the recycling endosome membrane as surrounding a recycling endosome.
recycling endosome membrane	bounds	recycling endosome lumen	`GO:0055038` GO:0055038 identifies the recycling endosome membrane. `GO:0034777` GO:0034777 defines the recycling endosome lumen by enclosure within recycling-endosome membranes.

CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve exact lipid species or lipid classes for the recycling endosome membrane before expanding molecular composition. The GO term exactly identifies the complete recycling endosome membrane as a lipid bilayer, but this first membrane record does not curate the source-neutral lipid classes or organism-specific species that make up the bilayer.

GO:0055038 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the recycling endosome membrane.
GO:0010008 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for endosome membrane.
GO:0055037 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the recycling endosome that the recycling endosome membrane bounds.
GO:0034777 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the recycling endosome lumen bounded by the membrane.
uniprot.location:SL-0231 — Recycling endosome membrane UniProt Subcellular Location entry SL-0231 maps Recycling endosome membrane to GO:0055038 and places it under Endosome membrane and Recycling 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.

2026-09-22T20:07:08Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-22T20:08:16Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added endosome-membrane parentage, recycling-endosome parthood, a recycling endosomal membrane synonym, UniProt SL-0231 xref, a reviewed lipid-bilayer component, Trypanosoma brucei scope, a lumen-compartmentalization function, GO/UniProt/PubMed evidence, a nonmechanistic membrane-topology graph, and a lipid-species curation TODO.
2026-09-22T20:22:56Z codex · ADDRESSED_PR_REVIEW — Addressed PR #1318 review issues #1319 and #1320 by narrowing the PMID:11683389-backed T. brucei notes to transferrin/TbRAB11 evidence and making the canonical example describe the recycling-endosome limiting membrane instead of only the parent organelle.