Human cells have more than 60 RAB proteins that are key regulators of intracellular membrane trafficking. These small GTPases contribute to trafficking specificity by localizing to the membranes of different organelles and interacting with effectors such as sorting adaptors, tethering factors, kinases, phosphatases and tubular-vesicular cargo (reviewed in Stenmark et al, 2009; Wandinger-Ness and Zerial, 2014; Zhen and Stenmark, 2015).

RAB localization depends on a number of factors including C-terminal prenylation, the sequence of upstream hypervariable regions and what nucleotide is bound, as well as interaction with RAB-interacting proteins (Chavrier et al, 1991; Ullrich et al, 1993; Soldati et al, 1994; Farnsworth et al, 1994; Seabra, 1996; Wu et al, 2010; reviewed in Stenmark, 2009; Wandinger-Ness and Zerial, 2014). More recently, the activity of RAB GEFs has also been implicated in regulating the localization of RAB proteins (Blumer et al, 2103; Schoebel et al, 2009; Cabrera and Ungermann, 2013; reviewed in Barr, 2013; Zhen and Stenmark, 2015).