ESCRT III complex

GO:0000815 · Other · Multiprotein complex · Proposed

A complex with membrane scission activity that plays a major role in many processes where membranes are remodelled - including endosomal transport (vesicle budding), nuclear envelope organisation (membrane closure, mitotic bridge cleavage), and cytokinesis (abscission). [GO:0000815]

Synonyms: ESCRT-III complex; endosomal sorting complex required for transport

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

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Genes	Essential	Role
Vps20 ESCRT-III subunit	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	VPS20	UNKNOWN	Vps20 core constituent of the yeast endosome-associated ESCRT-III hetero-oligomer. `PMID:12194857` Babst et al. 2002 characterized Vps20p as one of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ESCRT-III subunits required for multivesicular-body sorting. `DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.05.015` Henne, Buchkovich and Emr 2011 reviewed Vps20 as a yeast ESCRT-III subunit in the endosomal ESCRT pathway.
Snf7/Vps32 ESCRT-III subunit	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	SNF7	UNKNOWN	Snf7/Vps32 core constituent of the yeast endosomal ESCRT-III complex. `PMID:12194857` Babst et al. 2002 characterized Snf7p/Vps32p as one of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ESCRT-III subunits required for multivesicular-body sorting. `DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.05.015` Henne, Buchkovich and Emr 2011 reviewed Snf7 as a central yeast ESCRT-III subunit.
Vps24 ESCRT-III subunit	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	VPS24	UNKNOWN	Vps24 core constituent of the yeast endosome-associated ESCRT-III hetero-oligomer. `PMID:12194857` Babst et al. 2002 characterized Vps24p as one of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ESCRT-III subunits required for multivesicular-body sorting. `DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.05.015` Henne, Buchkovich and Emr 2011 reviewed Vps24 as a yeast ESCRT-III subunit.
Vps2 ESCRT-III subunit	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	VPS2	UNKNOWN	Vps2 core constituent of the yeast endosome-associated ESCRT-III hetero-oligomer. `PMID:12194857` Babst et al. 2002 characterized Vps2p as one of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ESCRT-III subunits required for multivesicular-body sorting. `DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.05.015` Henne, Buchkovich and Emr 2011 reviewed Vps2 as a yeast ESCRT-III subunit.

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:4932 Saccharomyces cerevisiae — COMMON: Budding yeast uses Vps20, Snf7/Vps32, Vps24 and Vps2 as an ESCRT-III complex during endosomal multivesicular-body sorting. [PMID:12194857]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:4932 Saccharomyces cerevisiae — Genetic and cell-biological model in which Babst et al. identified Vps20p, Snf7p/Vps32p, Vps24p and Vps2p as the ESCRT-III complex required for MVB sorting. [PMID:12194857]

Functions

multivesicular body sorting pathway GO:0071985 — ESCRT-III acts late in the endosomal MVB pathway to remodel limiting membranes during intraluminal vesicle formation.
- GO:0071985 GO:0071985 denotes the multivesicular body sorting pathway that targets ubiquitylated transmembrane proteins into luminal vesicles.
- PMID:12194857 Babst et al. 2002 identified ESCRT-III as a yeast endosome-associated complex required for MVB sorting.
membrane fission GO:0090148 — ESCRT-III complexes assemble on membranes as remodeling polymers that drive membrane constriction and scission events.
- GO:0000815 GO:0000815 defines ESCRT III complex as a complex with membrane scission activity.
- DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.05.015 Henne, Buchkovich and Emr 2011 reviewed the ESCRT pathway as membrane remodeling and scission machinery.

Mechanism graphs

ESCRT-III remodels yeast endosomal membranes (FUNCTION)

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Vps20, Snf7/Vps32, Vps24 and Vps2 assemble into the ESCRT-III complex, which remodels endosomal membranes during multivesicular-body sorting.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
Vps20 ESCRT-III subunit	is part of	ESCRT III complex	`PMID:12194857` Babst et al. 2002 characterized Vps20p as a core yeast ESCRT-III subunit.
Snf7/Vps32 ESCRT-III subunit	is part of	ESCRT III complex	`PMID:12194857` Babst et al. 2002 characterized Snf7p/Vps32p as a core yeast ESCRT-III subunit.
Vps24 ESCRT-III subunit	is part of	ESCRT III complex	`PMID:12194857` Babst et al. 2002 characterized Vps24p as a core yeast ESCRT-III subunit.
Vps2 ESCRT-III subunit	is part of	ESCRT III complex	`PMID:12194857` Babst et al. 2002 characterized Vps2p as a core yeast ESCRT-III subunit.
ESCRT III complex	remodels	endosome membrane	`PMID:12194857` Babst et al. 2002 identified yeast ESCRT-III as an endosome-associated hetero-oligomeric complex. `DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.05.015` Henne, Buchkovich and Emr 2011 reviewed ESCRT-III as the membrane-remodeling complex in the endosomal ESCRT pathway.
ESCRT III complex	participates in	multivesicular body sorting pathway	`PMID:12194857` Babst et al. 2002 found that the yeast ESCRT-III complex is required for MVB sorting.

Discussions

CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve exact source-neutral InterPro or Pfam groundings for the Vps20, Snf7/Vps32, Vps24 and Vps2 ESCRT-III subunit classes. This first ESCRT III complex record records the named Saccharomyces cerevisiae core subunits without asserting paralogy boundaries or a single InterPro/Pfam family unless those identifiers are reviewed exactly.
CURATION_TODO (RESOLVED): Do not model Vps4 as a constituent component of ESCRT-III. Vps4 is the AAA ATPase that recycles ESCRT-III from membranes after assembly and is therefore out of scope for the constituent component list in this first record.

Evidence

GO:0000815 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for ESCRT III complex.
GO:0036452 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for the ESCRT complex class.
GO:0071985 Gene Ontology biological-process term for the multivesicular body sorting pathway.
GO:0090148 Gene Ontology biological-process term for membrane fission, also known as membrane scission.
GO:0010008 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the endosome membrane.
PMID:12194857 Babst, Katzmann, Estepa-Sabal, Meerloo and Emr 2002, Escrt-III, Developmental Cell.
DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.05.015 Henne, Buchkovich and Emr 2011, The ESCRT Pathway, Developmental Cell.

Curation history

2026-09-12T08:57:03Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-12T08:58:25Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added ESCRT-III synonymy, reviewed-label-only Vps20, Snf7/Vps32, Vps24 and Vps2 core subunits, Saccharomyces scope, MVB sorting and membrane-fission functions, GO/DOI evidence, a nonmechanistic yeast endosomal remodeling graph, a subunit-grounding TODO, and a resolved Vps4 boundary decision.
2026-09-12T09:05:27Z codex · ADDRESSED_PR_REVIEW — Resolved PR #618 review issues #619 and #620 by dropping ungrounded family wording from ESCRT-III subunit labels and adding Henne et al. 2011 evidence to the endosomal membrane-remodeling graph edge.
2026-09-21T09:03:20Z codex · REPLACED_UNREADABLE_EVIDENCE — Resolved #1225 by routing Babst et al. 2002 ESCRT-III subunit and membrane-remodeling evidence through reachable PMID:12194857 instead of the unreadable Developmental Cell DOI.
2026-09-24T00:44:10Z codex · ADD_ESCRT_PARENT — Resolved PR #1436 review issue #1437 by linking GO:0000815 ESCRT III complex to its GO:0036452 ESCRT complex parent.

Source: data/structures/other/escrt_iii_complex.yaml