Regulator of Golgi Activity Identified

However, in their paper in the August 8, 2003, issue of Cell, investigators at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, USA; www.utsouthwestern.edu) reported that a different complex lipid, phosphatidylinositol 4 phosphate (PI4P), was actually the regulatory agent.

"PI4P has been overshadowed by PIP2 as one of the major regulators of the Golgi because PI4P is made into PIP2. It is the immediate precursor of PIP2,” explained senior author Dr. Helen Yin, professor of physiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. "It was thought that PIP2 was important for all aspects of membrane trafficking in the Golgi, but we have found that PI4P is very abundant in the Golgi and without PI4P the Golgi cannot function. If this system is interrupted, cells will go through apoptosis, or cell death.”




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University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center