The Golgi body — a key organelle that processes proteins and lipids for secretion from the cell — is a pile of flattened membranes. Researchers have identified two proteins that work together to maintain the Golgi's shape and function.
Seth Field of the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues screened proteins to find ones that bind to a particular phosphoinositide that resides in the Golgi membrane and is unique to the organelle. They turned up GOLPH3 and, through a search of its partners, MYO18A. One end of GOLPH3 binds to the Golgi, whereas the other binds to MYO18A, which, in turn, binds to the cell's cytoskeleton. This complex generates tension that keeps the organelle functioning properly and its stretched shape intact.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cell biology: Golgi stretch. Nature 461, 1030–1031 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/4611030f
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/4611030f
