clathrin-coated pit

GO:0005905 · Other · Subcellular region · Proposed

A part of the endomembrane system in the form of an invagination of a membrane upon which a clathrin coat forms, and that can be converted by vesicle budding into a clathrin-coated vesicle. Coated pits form on the plasma membrane, where they are involved in receptor-mediated selective transport of many proteins and other macromolecules across the cell membrane, in the trans-Golgi network, and on some endosomes. [GO:0005905]

Synonyms: coated pit

Has part: clathrin coat of coated pit (GO:0030132)

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

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:4932 Saccharomyces cerevisiae — COMMON: Budding yeast forms cortical, clathrin-containing endocytic sites whose coat, membrane-invagination and vesicle-scission modules have been resolved by live-cell imaging. [DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2005.09.024]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:4932 Saccharomyces cerevisiae — Model fungus for live-cell analysis of clathrin/adaptor recruitment to cortical actin-based endocytic sites. [DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2005.04.014]

Functions

clathrin-dependent endocytosis GO:0072583 — Clathrin-coated pits internalize material by forming a coated membrane invagination that pinches off as a clathrin-coated endocytic vesicle.
- GO:0072583 GO:0072583 defines clathrin-dependent endocytosis as uptake through clathrin-coated pits that pinch off into clathrin-coated endocytic vesicles.
- DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2005.09.024 Kaksonen, Toret and Drubin 2005 analyzed coat formation, membrane invagination and vesicle scission during clathrin/actin-mediated endocytosis in budding yeast.

Mechanism graphs

Clathrin-coated pits bud into endocytic vesicles (FUNCTION)

A clathrin coat forms on an invaginating clathrin-coated pit; during clathrin-dependent endocytosis, the pit can bud into a clathrin-coated endocytic vesicle.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
clathrin coat of coated pit	is part of	clathrin-coated pit	`GO:0005905` GO:0005905 identifies the invaginating pit that carries a clathrin coat. `GO:0030132` GO:0030132 identifies the clathrin coat found on coated pits.
clathrin-coated pit	buds into	clathrin-coated endocytic vesicle	`GO:0005905` GO:0005905 defines a clathrin-coated pit as a membrane invagination that can be converted by vesicle budding into a clathrin-coated vesicle. `GO:0072583` GO:0072583 describes clathrin-coated pits pinching off to form clathrin-coated endocytic vesicles.
clathrin-coated pit	participates in	clathrin-dependent endocytosis	`GO:0072583` GO:0072583 defines clathrin-dependent endocytosis as uptake through clathrin-coated pits. `DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2005.09.024` Kaksonen, Toret and Drubin 2005 resolved the coat formation, membrane invagination and vesicle scission modules of budding-yeast clathrin/actin-mediated endocytosis.

Discussions

INTERPRETATION (RESOLVED): Keep clathrin and AP-2 molecular components on the clathrin coat of coated pit record. GO:0005905 denotes the coated membrane invagination, while GO:0030132 denotes the coat substructure that comprises clathrin and AP-2. The whole-pit record therefore links GO:0030132 through has_part and leaves the coat protein constituents on that substructure record.

Evidence

GO:0005905 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the clathrin-coated pit.
GO:0016020 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for the membrane class that contains the clathrin-coated pit.
GO:0030132 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the clathrin coat found on a clathrin-coated pit.
GO:0072583 Gene Ontology biological-process term for clathrin-dependent endocytosis.
DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2005.04.014 Newpher, Smith, Lemmon and Lemmon 2005, In Vivo Dynamics of Clathrin and Its Adaptor-Dependent Recruitment to the Actin-Based Endocytic Machinery in Yeast, Developmental Cell.
DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2005.09.024 Kaksonen, Toret and Drubin 2005, A Modular Design for the Clathrin- and Actin-Mediated Endocytosis Machinery, Cell.

Curation history

2026-09-23T22:34:01Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-23T22:35:22Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added GO synonymy, membrane parentage, coated-pit clathrin-coat parthood, Saccharomyces scope, a clathrin-dependent endocytosis function, GO/DOI evidence, a nonmechanistic pit-budding graph, and a resolved coat-component boundary discussion.
2026-09-23T22:44:25Z codex · ADDRESSED_LOCAL_QC — Changed the clathrin/AP-2 boundary discussion from a bare components anchor to the coated-pit has_part field and the pit-budding graph.

Source: data/structures/other/clathrin_coated_pit.yaml