UNRAVELING GOLGI MEMBRANE TRAFFIC WITH GREEN FLUORESCENT PROTEIN CHIMERAS

An important new tool for investigating how tile Golgi receives cargo and maintains its integrity in the face of ongoing secretory traffic h as emerged with the advent of green fluorescent protein (GFP) chimeras . GFP chimeras, which cull be visualized in the unperturbed environmen t of a living cell, are being used in a wine variety of applications t o study Golgi dynamics. These include time-lapse imaging, double-label and photobleach experiments. These studies are helping to clarify the steps involved in the formation, translocation and fate of transport intermediates associated with the Golgi complex, including the roles o f cytoskeletal elements. They are also providing insights into mechani sms of protein retention and localization within Golgi membranes.