Lysosomes are associated with microtubules and not with intermediate filaments in cultured fibroblasts

Double immunofluorescent labeling experiments for lysosomes and either microtubules or vimentin intermediate filaments in cultured well-spread fibroblasts show a remarkable degree of superposition of the lysosomes and the microtubules. Under two different sets of conditions where the microtubules and intermediate filaments are well segregated from one another, the lysosomes remain codistributed with the microtubules. It is suggested that this specific association of lysosomes with microtubules reflects some type(s) of linkage(s) between them and that such linkages may play an important role in the location and intracellular transport of lysosomes inside cells.