The Golgi complex is the site of glycolipid biosynthesis, finishing steps in glycoprotein processing and sorting of secretory, plasma membrane and lysosomal/vacuolar proteins. In mammalian cells, it consists of a compact, juxtanuclear complex in which individual concentrations of Golgi membranes, Golgi stacks, are interconnected by tubular extensions. This juxtanuclear localization is a consequence of organelle associated motor proteins, presumably members of the dynein family, and microtubule orientation with respect to the microtubule organizing center (MTOC). Within a Golgi stack, the organelle is organized in a polarized fashion as discerned by morphology, protein residence and function. In the present application, we propose to use a multimarker approach to probe key aspects of how the cisternal stack is held together. Such a multimarker approach has only become possible through the generation of stable cell lines transfected for epitope tagged Golgi glycosyltransferases. Dr. Nilsson has been a pioneer in this.
