Abstract. Recent in vivo studies with the fungal metabolite, brefeldin A (BFA), have shown that in the absence of vesicle formation, membranes of the Golgi complex and the trans-Golgi network (TGN) are nevertheless able to extend long tubules which fuse with selected target organelles. We report here that the ability to form tubules (>7 #m long) could be reproduced in vitro by treatment of isolated, intact Golgi membranes with BFA under certain conditions. Surprisingly, an even more impressive degree of tubulation could be achieved by incubating Golgi stacks with an ATP-reduced cytosolic fraction, without any BFA at all. Similarly, tubulation of Golgi membranes in vivo occurred after treatment of cells with intermediate levels of NaN3 and 2-deoxyglucose. The formarion of tubules in vitro, either by BFA treatment or low-ATP cytosol, correlated precisely with a loss of the vesicle-associated coat protein ~/-COP from Golgi membranes. After removal of BFA or addition of ATE membrane tubules served as substrates for the rebinding of/3-COP and for the formation of vesicles in vitro. These results provide support for the idea that a reciprocal relationship exists between tubulation and vesiculation (Klausner, R. D., J. G. Donaldson, and J. Lippincott-Schwartz. 1992. J. Cell Biol. 116:1071-1080. Moreover, they show that tubulation is an inherent property of Golgi membranes, since it occurs without the aid of microtubules or BFA treatment. Finally the results indicate the presence of cytosolic factors, independent of vesicle-associated coat proteins, that mediate the budding/tubulation of Golgi membranes.

Recent studies have suggested that formation of Golgi membrane tubules involves the generation of membrane-associated lysophospholipids by a cytoplasmic Ca2+-independent phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Herein, we provide additional support for this idea by showing that inhibition of lysophospholipid reacylation by a novel Golgi-associated lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase (LPAT) induces the rapid tubulation of Golgi membranes, leading in their retrograde movement to the endoplasmic reticulum. Inhibition of the Golgi LPAT was achieved by 2,2-dimethyl-N-(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)dodecanamide (CI-976), a previously characterized antagonist of acyl-CoA cholesterol acyltransferase. The effect of CI-976 was similar to that of brefeldin A, except that the coatomer subunit β-COP remained on Golgi-derived membrane tubules. CI-976 also enhanced the cytosol-dependent formation of tubules from Golgi complexes in vitro and increased the levels of lysophosphatidylcholine in Golgi membranes. Moreover, preincubation of cells with PLA2 antagonists inhibited the ability of CI-976 to induce tubules. These results suggest that Golgi membrane tubule formation can result from increasing the content of lysophospholipids in membranes, either by stimulation of a PLA2 or by inhibition of an LPAT. These two opposing enzyme activities may help to coordinately regulate Golgi membrane shape and tubule formation.

To investigate the distribution of lipids through the Golgi complex, we analyzed the envelopes of several viruses that assemble in different subcompartments of the Golgi, as well as subcellular fractions. Our results indicate that each Golgi subcompartment has a distinct phospholipid composition due mainly to differences in the relative amounts of semilysobisphosphatidic acid (SLBPA), sphingomyelin, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylinositol. Interestingly, SLBPA is enriched in the adjacent Golgi networks compared with the Golgi stack, and this enrichment varies with cell type. The heterogeneous distribution of SLBPA through the Golgi complex suggests it may play an important role in the structure and/or function of this organelle.

Abstract. Cells contain an intracellular compartment that serves as both the "prelysosomal" delivery site for newly synthesized lysosomal enzymes by the mannose 6-phosphate (Man6P) receptor and as a station along the endocytic pathway to lysosomes. We have obtained mAbs to a *57-kD membrane glycoprotein, (called here plgp57), found predominantly in this prelysosomal endosome compartment. This conclusion is supported by the following results: (a) plgp57 was primarily found in a population of late endosomes that were located just distal to the 20°C block site in the endocytic pathway to lysosomes (~83% of the prelysosomes were positive for plgp57 but <5 % of the early endosomes had detectable amounts of this marker); (b) plgp57 and the cation-independent (CI) Man6P receptor were located in many of the same intraceUular vesicles; (c) plgp57 was found in the membranes of an acidic compartment; (d) immunoelectron microscopy showed that plgp57 was located in characteristic multilamellar-and multivesicular-type vacuoles believed to be prelysosomal endosomes; and (e) cell fractionation studies demonstrated that plgp57 was predominantly found in low density organelles which comigrated with late endosomes and CI Man6P receptors, and only •10-15 % of the antigen was found in high density fractions containing the majority of secondary lysosomes. These results indicate that plgp57 is a novel marker for a unique prelysosomal endosome compartment that is the site of confluence of the endocytic and biosynthetic pathways to lysosomes.