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Abstract

Intracellular membrane fusion is crucial for the biogenesis and maintenance of cellular compartments, for vesicular traffic between them, and for exo- and endocytosis. Parts of the molecular machinery underlying this process have been identified, but most of these components operate in mutual recognition of the membranes. Here it is shown that protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) is essential for bilayer mixing, the last step of membrane fusion. PP1 was also identified in a complex that contained calmodulin, the second known factor implicated in the regulation of bilayer mixing. The PP1-calmodulin complex was required at multiple sites of intracellular trafficking; hence, PP1 may be a general factor controlling membrane bilayer mixing.