Visualizing the Golgi apparatus and Golgiphagy in vivo

The Golgi apparatus is essential for protein secretion and cellular homeostasis, yet its organization and turnover in living tissues remain poorly understood. Golgiphagy, the selective autophagic degradation of the Golgi, has emerged as a key quality control pathway, but its physiological regulation in vivo remains largely unknown. Here, we generated two reporter mouse lines for constitutive or Cre-dependent visualization of Golgi architecture and Golgiphagy, enabling quantitative single-cell analysis across tissues. These models revealed striking cell type– and tissue-specific heterogeneity in basal Golgiphagy, including higher activity in renal proximal than distal tubules and in cerebellar than cortical neurons. Starvation and lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation also promoted Golgi remodeling and Golgiphagy in multiple organs, particularly the liver, spleen, and kidney. Together, these reporter mice provide a powerful genetic toolkit for studying Golgi dynamics in vivo and establish that Golgiphagy is a spatially heterogeneous and stress-responsive process under physiological conditions.