The functional universe of membrane contact sites.

TLDR: In the past decade, it is has become clear that Membrane Contact Sites (MCSs) have a much broader range of critical roles in cells than was initially thought as mentioned in this paper, and functions for MCSs in intracellular signalling such as autophagy, lipid metabolism, membrane dynamics, cellular stress responses and organelle trafficking and biogenesis have been reported.

Abstract: Organelles compartmentalize eukaryotic cells, enhancing their ability to respond to environmental and developmental changes. One way in which organelles communicate and integrate their activities is by forming close contacts, often called 'membrane contact sites' (MCSs). Interest in MCSs has grown dramatically in the past decade as it is has become clear that they are ubiquitous and have a much broader range of critical roles in cells than was initially thought. Indeed, functions for MCSs in intracellular signalling (particularly calcium signalling, reactive oxygen species signalling and lipid signalling), autophagy, lipid metabolism, membrane dynamics, cellular stress responses and organelle trafficking and biogenesis have now been reported.