Assembly and Disassembly ofthe Golgi Complex: Two Processes Arranged in a cis-trans Direction

Abstract. We have studied the disassembly and as-sembly of two morphologically and functionally dis-tinct parts of the Golgi complex, the cis/middle and trans cisterna/Trans network compartments. For this purpose we have followed the redistribution of three cis/middle- (GMP-,, GMP-2, MG 160) and two trans- (GMP,-, and GMP,-2) Golgi membrane proteins during and after treatment of normal rat kidney (NRK) cells with brefeldin A (BFA). BFA induced complete disassembly of the cis/middle- and trans-Golgi com-plex and translocation of GMP, and GMP, to the ER. Cells treated for short times (3 min) with BFA showed extensive disorganization of both cis/middle- and trans-Golgi complexes. However, complete disorgani-zation of the trans part required much longer incuba