Vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein 18 homolog (VPS18)

Plays a role in vesicle-mediated protein trafficking into lysosomal compartments such as the endocytic membrane transport and autophagic pathways. Believed to act as a core part of the putative HOPS and CORVET endosomal tethering complexes which are proposed to be involved in the Rab5-to-Rab7 endosome conversion probably implicating MON1A/B, and via binding SNAREs and SNARE complexes to mediate tethering and docking events during SNARE-mediated membrane fusion.

The HOPS complex is proposed to be recruited to Rab7 on the late endosomal membrane and to modulate late endocytic, phagocytic and autophagic traffic towards lysosomes. The CORVET complex is proposed to serve as a Rab5 effector to mediate early endosome fusion probably in particular endosome subpopulations (PubMed:11382755, PubMed:23351085, PubMed:24554770, PubMed:25783203).