Recently, p24A and p23 (also termed Tmp21), two members of the p24 protein
family, have been proposed to function as integral receptors for the COPI-v
esicle coat. This study describes the intracellular localization and traffi
cking of p24A in comparison to p23, For immunolocalization of p24A and p23,
strong reduction and denaturation conditions were necessary to allow antib
ody interaction. Both p24A and p23 cycle continuously between intermediate
compartment (IC) elements and the cis-Golgi network. In vivo trafficking of
p24A and p23 tagged to green fluorescent protein (GFP) revealed that both
proteins travel by large (up to 1 mu m in length) microtubule-dependent pre
-Golgi carriers with a maximum speed of up to 1.6 mu m s(-1) from the IC to
the Golgi cisternae, Aluminum fluoride, a general activator of heterotrime
ric G-proteins, blocked peripheral pre-Golgi movements of GFP-p24A/p23 and
inhibited fluorescence recovery after photobleaching in the perinuclear Gol
gi area. p24A and p23 are predominantly colocalized, Overexpression of GFP-
p24A, to an extent which did not destroy the Golgi complex, induced delocal
ization of part of the proteins into ER elements, This study therefore give
s new insights into the localization and trafficking behavior of the two CO
PI-binding proteins p24A and p23.