COPII components (known as Sec13p, Sec23p, Sec24p, Sec31p, and Sar1p in yeast) traffic cargo from the endoplasmic reticulum to the ER-Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC). COPII-coated vesicles were originally discovered in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae using genetic approaches coupled with a cell-free assay. The mammalian counterpart of this pathway is represented here. Newly synthesized proteins destined for secretion are sorted into COPII-coated vesicles at specialized regions of the ER. These vesicles leave the ER, become uncoated and subsequently fuse with the ERGIC membrane.