A new Rab7 effector controls phosphoinositide conversion in endosome maturation.

Endosome maturation requires a coordinated change in the Rab GTPase and phosphoinositide composition of the endosomal membrane. In this issue, Liu et al. (2017. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201705151) identify WDR91 as a ubiquitous Rab7 effector that inhibits phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity on endosomes and is critical for endosome maturation, viability, and dendrite growth of neurons in vivo.