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The centenarian Golgi apparatus

Nature volume 392, pages 543–544 (1998)Cite this article

One hundred years ago, Camillo Golgi described the cellular apparatus that has since become synonymous with his name. Although its existence was questioned for 50 years, this organelle is now established as the cell's centre for the processing and secretion of proteins.

A professor of histology and general pathology at the University of Pavia, Golgi had already acquired an international reputation based on a surprising number of original contributions to biology and medicine2. In 1873, while searching for a recipe that could effectively stain the nervous tissue, he discovered the so-called ‘black reaction’, known nowadays as Golgi impregnation or Golgi staining. This reaction was based on the use of silver nitrate and potassium bichromate, and it afforded, for the first time, a full view of single nerve cells and their processes.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Illustrations of Camillo Golgi's “internal reticular apparatus”.
Figure 3: Electron micrograph of stacks of cisternae of the Golgi apparatus (arrows).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Istituto di Genetica Biochimica ed Evoluzionistica-CNR, Via Abbiategrasso 207, Pavia, 27100, Italy

    Paolo Mazzarello

  2. the Istituto di Anatomia e Istologia, Universit di Verona, Strada le Grazie 8, Verona, 37134, Italy

    Marina Bentivoglio

Authors
  1. Paolo Mazzarello
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  2. Marina Bentivoglio
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Mazzarello, P., Bentivoglio, M. The centenarian Golgi apparatus. Nature 392, 543–544 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/33266

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