Cruising along Microtubule Highways: How Membranes Move through the Secretory Pathway

Bloom, George S.; Goldstein, Lawrence S.B.

doi:10.1083/jcb.140.6.1277

Article navigation

Spotlight| March 23 1998

Cruising along Microtubule Highways: How Membranes Move through the Secretory Pathway

George S. Bloom,

George S. Bloom

*Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75235; and ‡Division of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0683

Search for other works by this author on:

This Site

PubMed

Google Scholar

Lawrence S.B. Goldstein

*Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75235; and ‡Division of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0683

Search for other works by this author on:

This Site

PubMed

Google Scholar

Author and Article Information

George S. Bloom

*Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75235; and ‡Division of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0683

Lawrence S.B. Goldstein

*Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75235; and ‡Division of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0683

G.S. Bloom's lab is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (NS30485), the American Cancer Society (CB-58E), and the Robert A. Welch Foundation (I-1236). L.S.B. Goldstein is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His lab is also supported in part by a grant from the NIH (GM35252).

Address all correspondence to George S. Bloom, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75235. Tel.: (214) 648-7680. Fax: (214) 648-9160. E-mail: [email protected]

2. Approximately 11 min was calculated by the equation for three-dimensional diffusion: t = L²/6D, where t = time, L = length (10 μm), and D = diffusion coefficient (2.5 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm²/s) for ∼200-nm-diam granules in neutrophils (13).

3. Approximately 630,000 years was calculated using the equation for one-dimensional diffusion: t = L²/2D, where t = time, L = length (1 m), and D = diffusion coefficient (2.5 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm²/s) for ∼200-nm-diam granules in neutrophils (13).

Received: June 20 1997

Revision Received: January 22 1998

Online ISSN: 1540-8140

Print ISSN: 0021-9525

1998

J Cell Biol (1998) 140 (6): 1277–1280.

https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.140.6.1277

How microtubules (MTs)¹ influence secretion has long intrigued cell biologists. Significant insight has come from studies showing that MTs serve as highways along which transport intermediates travel between the ER and Golgi (9, 10, 21, 28, 32), making it tempting to conclude that MTs are essential for secretion. While the literature contains many additional reports supporting that view (for example 7, 31), it is also oddly replete with reports that secretion is unimpaired in cells depleted of MTs (for example 12, 18, 39, 41). Thus, although MTs are used for some steps in secretion, they may not always be required. To understand fully the role of MTs in secretion, it is therefore necessary to look beyond the question of whether secretion can occur when MTs are absent, but focus instead on how biosynthetic products are transported through the secretory pathway in...

1998

You do not currently have access to this content.

Don't already have an account? Register

You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.

Cruising along Microtubule Highways: How Membranes Move through the Secretory Pathway

Email alerts

Connected Content

Cruising along Microtubule Highways: How Membranes Move through the Secretory Pathway

Sign in

Client Account

Sign in via your Institution

Suggested Content

Email alerts

Connected Content

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only