Small cargo proteins and large aggregates can traverse the Golgi by a common mechanism without leaving the lumen of cisternae.

Procollagen (PC)-I aggregates transit through the Golgi complex without leaving the lumen of Golgi cisternae. Based on this evidence, we have proposed that PC-I is transported across the Golgi stacks by the cisternal maturation process. However, most secretory cargoes are small, freely diffusing proteins, thus raising the issue whether they move by a transport mechanism different than that used by PC-I. To address this question we have developed procedures to compare the transport of a small protein, the G protein of the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSVG), with that of the much larger PC-I aggregates in the same cell. Transport was followed using a combination of video and EM, providing high resolution in time and space. Our results reveal that PC-I aggregates and VSVG move synchronously through the Golgi at indistinguishable rapid rates. Additionally, not only PC-I aggregates (as confirmed by ultrarapid cryofixation), but also VSVG, can traverse the stack without leaving the cisternal lumen and without entering Golgi vesicles in functionally relevant amounts. Our findings indicate that a common mechanism independent of anterograde dissociative carriers is responsible for the traffic of small and large secretory cargo across the Golgi stack.

Coupling of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor and chromogranins A and B in secretory granules.

The secretory granules of neuroendocrine cells which contain large amounts of Ca(2+) and chromogranins have been demonstrated to release Ca(2+) in response to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3)). Moreover, chromogranin A (CGA) has been shown to interact with several secretory granule membrane proteins, including the IP(3) receptor (IP(3)R). To determine whether the IP(3)Rs interact directly with chromogranins A and B (CGB), two major proteins of the secretory granules, we have used purified IP(3)R from bovine cerebellum in the interaction study with CGA and CGB, and have shown that chromogranins A and B directly interact with the IP(3)R at the intravesicular pH 5.5. Immunogold cytochemical study using the IP(3)R and CGA antibodies indicated that IP(3)R-labeled gold particles were localized in the periphery of the secretory granules, indicating the presence of the IP(3)Rs on the secretory granule membrane. To determine whether the IP(3)R and chromogranins A and B are physically linked in the cells, bovine type 1 IP(3)R (IP(3)R-1) and CGA or CGB are co-transfected into COS-7 cells and co-immunoprecipitation was carried out. Immunoprecipitation of the cell extracts demonstrated the presence of CGA-IP(3)R-1 and CGB-IP(3)R-1 complexes, respectively, indicating the complex formation between the IP(3)R and chromogranins A and B in native state.

High frequency of thyroid tumor induction by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine in the hermaphroditic fish Rivulus marmoratus.

In the self-fertilizing hermaphroditic fish, Rivulus marmoratus, the susceptibility to tumor induction by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) was evaluated. Seven-day-old fish larvae were exposed for 2 h to MNNG at concentrations ranging from 5 to 25 ppm in a static water bath. The exposed fish were observed at 2 and 4 months after carcinogen treatment to assess tumor development. Within 4 months after 25 ppm MNNG exposure, nearly all fish developed thyroid tumors. The tumor incidences were dose- and time-dependent, and the latent period of tumor induction was less than 2 months. Most induced neoplasms were papillary carcinomas similar histologically to those of rodents and humans, and the tumors were serially transplantable to other fish of the same species. These results demonstrate that rivulus could be useful as a model of thyroid carcinogenesis.