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Cell biology

The Golgi grows up

Nature volume 441, pages 939–940 (2006)Cite this article

The Golgi apparatus of the cell has long baffled biologists, mainly because it is unclear how proteins are conveyed through it on their way to the cell surface. Some innovative microscopy may resolve the issue.

The Golgi apparatus is the enigmatic organelle responsible for modifying newly synthesized proteins that are destined to be secreted from the cell. Discovered by Camillo Golgi in 1898, the apparatus consists of a stack of disc-shaped membranes called cisternae. Newly made secretory proteins are delivered to the cis face of the Golgi. They exit, fully processed, at the opposite end — the trans face. But how do the proteins traverse the Golgi stack? Debate on this hotly contested question has persisted, in one form or another, for about 40 years. Now, two papers in this issue1,2 claim to resolve the matter in favour of one of the two competing transport mechanisms — the so-called ‘cisternal maturation model’.

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Figure 1: Two models of protein trafficking through the Golgi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, 92014, California, USA

    Vivek Malhotra

  2. National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, 560 065, India

    Satyajit Mayor

Authors
  1. Vivek Malhotra
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  2. Satyajit Mayor
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Malhotra, V., Mayor, S. The Golgi grows up. Nature 441, 939–940 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/441939a

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