ENZYMOLOGY OF GOLGI STACK FORMATION

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We have identified a novel chemical ilimaquinone that vesiculates Golgi membranes and depolymerizes microtubules, while other intracellular organelles and cytoskeletal elements remain unaffected. Upon removal of IQ, both the microtubules and the Golgi complex rapidly reassemble to their original form. During this assembly process VGMs (for vesiculated Golgi membranes) first fuse to forms stacks of Golgi cisternae. This process does not require microtubules and can also take place at 16 degrees C but not at temperatures below 16 degrees C. The stacks then in the presence of microtubules and incubation at 37 degrees C congregate as a complex in the pericentriolar region. We have reconstituted the assembly of Golgi stacks from VGMs in semi-intact cells. This stack assembly has an obligate requirement for ATP, hydrolysis of GTP, incubation at 16-37 degrees C and cytosolic proteins. We have a unique opportunity to isolate the proteins that catalyze the fusion between VGMs and provide a structural scaffold for the step wise assembly of Golgi stacks. We want to characterize intermediates in the stack assembly process and define the minimum assembled structure that is functionally active in the vesicular protein transport. We will Isolate cytosolic GAFs (for Golgi Assembly Factors) required for the assembly of VGMs into stacks of cisternae. We want to isolate the mitotic counterparts of GAFs to test whether these proteins undergo any posttranslational modifications such as phosphorylation/dephosphorylation in association with cell-cycle events. The questions we want to address are whether these posttranslational modifications have a functional significance and what are the enzymes responsible for the regulation of these modifications during cell-cycle. Therefore, with a battery of purified GAFs, antibodies and cDNAs combined with a functional assay we want to elucidate the mechanism by which stacks of Golgi cisternae are maintained in interphase cells and built in each daughter cell after cell-division. This has never been attempted before, and therefore promises to reveal novel proteins involved in regulating the three dimensional organization of Golgi stacks and the significance of this organization in vesicular protein transport.