A microtubule-binding protein associated with membranes of the Golgi apparatus

A monoclonal antibody (M3A5), raised against microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP-2), recognized an antigen associated with the Golgi complex in a variety of non-neuronal tissue culture cells. In double immunofluorescence studies M3A5 staining was very similar to that of specific Golgi markers, even after disruption of the Golgi apparatus organization with monensin or nocodazole. M3A5 recognized one band of Mr approximately 110,000 in immunoblots of culture cell extracts; this protein, designated 110K, was enriched in Golgi stack fractions prepared from rat liver. The 110K protein has been shown to partition into the aqueous phase by Triton X-114 extraction of a Golgi-enriched fraction and was eluted after pH 11.0 carbonate washing. It is therefore likely to be a peripheral membrane protein. Proteinase K treatment of an isolated Golgi stack fraction resulted in complete digestion of the 110K protein, both in the presence and absence of Triton X-100. A the 110K protein is accessible to protease in intact vesicles in vitro, it is presumably located on the cytoplasmic face of the Golgi membrane in vivo. The 110K protein was able to interact specifically with taxol-polymerized microtubules in vitro. These results suggest that the 110K protein may serve to link the Golgi apparatus to the microtubule network and so may belong to a novel class of proteins: the microtubule-binding proteins.