S-adenosylmethionine reverses ilimaquinone's vesiculation of the golgi apparatus: A fluorescence study on the cellular interactions of ilimaquinone

The marine sponge metabolite ilimaquinone has a wide range of biological ac tivities, including vesiculation of the Golgi apparatus and interference wi th intracellular protein trafficking. Some of these activities may arise fr om ilimaquinone's influence on the activated methyl cycle. To visualize the morphological effects of ilimaquinone on the Golgi apparatus, NRK (normal rat kidney) cells were labeled with fluorescent wheat germ agglutinin and t reated with ilimaquinone in the presence and absence of the methylating age nt S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe). While ilimaquinone alone fragments the Golg i apparatus, the organelle remains intact when SAMe is included in the incu bation mixture. This observation supports ilimaquinone's interaction with m ethylation enzymes as the cause of Golgi vesiculation. The examination of a fluorescently labeled ilimaquinone analogue in NRK cells suggests that the cellular interactions of ilimaquinone are not localized to the Golgi appar atus. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.