ESCRT-III function in membrane fission and repair

The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery is an evolutionarily conserved multisubunit protein complex that remodels cellular membranes. Beyond its classical role in endosomal sorting, the ESCRT machinery has been implicated in an ever-growing number of functions, including viral budding, cytokinesis, autophagy, extracellular vesicle release, pruning of synaptic processes and the repair and closure of holes in cellular membranes. Membrane remodelling functions are typically ascribed to the ESCRT-III subcomplex. In this Review, we discuss recent mechanistic and structural insights into how these proteins assemble and are remodelled to achieve membrane severing. We focus particularly on how ESCRT-III is engaged at different subcellular compartments during both interphase and mitosis to repair and remodel membranes.