Abstract. COP I-coated vesicles were analyzed for their content of resident Golgi enzymes (N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase; N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I; mannosidase II; galactosyltransferase), cargo (rat serum albumin; polyimmunoglobulin receptor), and recycling proteins (-KDEL receptor; ERGIC-53/p58) using biochemical and morphological techniques. The levels of these proteins were similar when the vesicles were prepared under interphase or mitotic conditions showing that sorting was unaffected. The average density relative to starting membranes for resident enzymes (14-30%), cargo (16-23%), and recycling proteins (81-125%) provides clues to the function of COP I vesicles in transport through the Golgi apparatus.T HE Golgi apparatus in mammalian cells has a unique architecture comprising a stack of flattened cisternae bounded on one side by the cis-Golgi network (CGN) 1 and on the other by the trans-Golgi network (TGN) (Rambourg and Clermont, 1990). The CGN is the entry point for the entire output of proteins synthesized and assembled in the ER (Huttner and Tooze, 1989). Cargo proteins may complete their folding in the CGN, and once assembled (Hammond and Helenius, 1994;Tatu et al., 1995), are transported through the stack in a discontinuous process (Rothman, 1994). Movement from cisterna to cisterna is often accompanied by sequential modifications to bound oligosaccharides, mediated by resident Golgi enzymes (Kornfeld and Kornfeld, 1985;Roth, 1987). Once they reach the TGN, cargo molecules are separated, packaged, and sent to their correct destination (Griffiths and Simons, 1986).Resident Golgi enzymes are thought to share the same pathway as cargo proteins up to the point where they reside and are then prevented from further forward movement. This reflects either their incorporation into heterooligomeric complexes too large for further transport (Nilsson et al., 1994) or a gradient of bilayer thickness that halts further transport once the length of the enzyme's spanning Address all correspondence to Dr. Graham Warren, Cell Biology Laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A, 3PX, United Kingdom. Tel.: 0171 269 3561. Fax: 0171 269 3417. E-mail: g.warren@europa.lif.icnet.uk 1. Abbreviations used in this paper: CGN, cis-Golgi network; ERGIC, endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi intermediate compartment; GalNAcT, GAIT, 131, Mann II, cd,6-mannosidase I1; NAGT I, 13-1,2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I; plgR, polymeric immunoglobulin receptor; RSA, rat serum albumin. domain matches that of the bilayer (Munro, 1995a,b). These models are not mutually exclusive and both may operate to ensure residence in particular cisternae (Pelham and Munro, 1993).Resident proteins of the ER are retained by less wellcharacterized mechanisms, but many are equipped with a signal that returns them to the ER should they inadvertently leave (Pelham, 1995). This retrograde pathway recognizes two types of retrieval signal. The first is -KDEL found at the COOH terminus of many soluble ER proteins (Munro ...