ESCRT s are everywhere

The ESCRT proteins are an ancient system that buds membranes and severs membrane necks from their inner face. Three “classical” functions of the ESCRT s have dominated research into these proteins since their discovery in 2001: the biogenesis of multivesicular bodies in endolysosomal sorting; the budding of HIV ‐1 and other viruses from the plasma membrane of infected cells; and the membrane abscission step in cytokinesis. The past few years have seen an explosion of novel functions: the biogenesis of microvesicles and exosomes; plasma membrane wound repair; neuron pruning; extraction of defective nuclear pore complexes; nuclear envelope reformation; plus‐stranded RNA virus replication compartment formation; and micro‐ and macroautophagy. Most, and perhaps all, of the functions involve the conserved membrane‐neck‐directed activities of the ESCRT s, revealing a remarkably widespread role for this machinery through a broad swath of cell biology.