Vesicle Transport and Tethering
Once the vesicles pinch off from the ER they are transported passively (by diffusion) or actively (by little intracellular motors that run on cytoskeletal tracks). The mode of transport seems to be influenced by distance. Short distances may tend towards passive transport whereas longer distances tend towards active transport. Once these vesicles reach their destination they need to be first physically linked with their acceptor compartment (else they may float away!!). This process is facilitated by "tethers". Tethers come in two "flavors" long protein(s) with domains called "coiled-coil" or complexes of many subunits which are for the most part globular. The tether that functions to "tether" ER derived vesicles to the VTC (or golgi in case of lower eukaryotes), the next compartment in the transport pathway is called Transport Protein Particle (TRAPP).
Read more about this topic: TRAPP Complex
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