Because the functional borders of the intermediate compartment (IC) are not well defined, the spatial map of the transport machineries operating between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the Golgi apparatus remains incomplete. Our previous studies showed that the IC consists of interconnected vacuolar and tubular parts with specific roles in pre-Golgi trafficking. Here, using live cell imaging, we demonstrate that the tubules containing the GTPase Rab1A create a long-lived membrane compartment around the centrosome. Separation of this pericentrosomal domain of the IC from the Golgi ribbon, due to centrosome motility, revealed that it contains a distinct pool of COPI coats and acts as a temperaturesensitive way station in post-ER trafficking. However, unlike the Golgi, the pericentrosomal IC resists the disassembly of COPI coats by brefeldin A, maintaining its juxtaposition with the endocytic recycling compartment, and operation as the focal point of a dynamic tubular network that extends to the cell periphery. These results provide novel insight into the compartmental organization of the secretory pathway and Golgi biogenesis. Moreover, they reveal a direct functional connection between the IC and the endosomal system, which evidently contributes to unconventional transport of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator to the cell surface.
INTRODUCTIONThe biosynthetic-secretory pathway sorts and delivers newly synthesized proteins and lipids, many with attached glycans, to the various endomembrane compartments of the cell and to its exterior (Palade, 1982). The dynamics and spatial organization of the secretory compartments-endoplasmic reticulum (ER), intermediate compartment (IC), and Golgi apparatus-depend on the microtubule (MT) and actin cytoskeleton and associated motor proteins (Thyberg and Moskalewski, 1999;Lippincott-Schwartz et al., 2000;Allan et al., 2002;Egea et al., 2006). The prevailing paradigm of the secretory pathway in mammalian cells states that the Golgi apparatus, positioned around the MT-organizing center (MTOC)/centrosome (Rios and Bornens, 2003), receives nascent proteins from widely distributed ER exit sites (ERES) due to MT-dependent centralization of IC elements (Saraste and Svensson, 1991;Bannykh et al., 1996;Presley et al., 1997;Scales et al., 1997;Hammond and Glick, 2000). After their post-translational modification and sorting in the Golgi, the proteins are distributed to the endolysosomal system, secretory granules, and the plasma membrane (PM;De Matteis and Luini, 2008). This spatial arrangement of the secretory process, consisting of centripetal and centrifugal transfer of biosynthetic products, is not essential for transport as such (Thyberg and Moskalewski, 1999;Hawes et al., 2008). However, it can promote the coalignment of the secretory and endocytic routes, allowing their communication at multiple sites (Saraste and Kuismanen, 1992;Bonifacino and Rojas, 2006) and facilitate the processing and sorting of cargo along these pathways via the establishment of a lume...