Tail anchored proteins are involved in a broad range of essential cellular processes. Because of their unique membrane topology, dedicated pathways are required for their targeting to the ER. One such pathway is the guided entry of TA proteins (GET) pathway, which has been extensively studied in yeast and is gaining significant importance in plants as well. The key player in this pathway is the dimeric chaperone Get3 (TRC40 in mammals). Unlike in yeast, plants possess multiple paralogs that differ in their subcellular localization and amino acid composition. Despite its important role in protein trafficking, disruption of the GET pathway leads only to minor growth defects that do not affect overall plant development. Further research indicates that alternative pathways may act in parallel to the GET pathway and that Get3 is involved in additional mechanisms beyond its originally anticipated role in protein targeting.
Struss et al. (2026) studied this question.