Partitioning of the matrix fraction of the Golgi apparatus during mitosis in animal cells

The Golgi apparatus is partitioned during mitosis in animal cells by a process of fragmentation, dispersal, and reassembly in each daughter cell. We fractionated the Golgi apparatus in vivo using the drug brefeldin A or a dominant-negative mutant of the Sar1p protein. After these treatments, Golgi enzymes moved back to the endoplasmic reticulum, leaving behind a matrix of Golgi structural proteins. Under these conditions, cells still entered and exited mitosis normally, and their Golgi matrix partitioned in a manner very similar to that of the complete organelle. Thus, the matrix may be the partitioning unit of the Golgi apparatus and may carry the Golgi enzyme-containing membranes into the daughter cells.