Peri-Golgi vesicles contain retrograde but not anterograde proteins consistent with the cisternal progression model of intra-Golgi transport.

A cisternal progression mode of intra-Golgi transport requires that Golgi resident proteins recycle by peri-Golgi vesicles, whereas the alternative model of vesicular transport predicts anterograde cargo proteins to be present in such vesicles. We have used quantitative immuno-EM on NRK cells to distinguish peri-Golgi vesicles from other vesicles in the Golgi region. We found significant levels of the Golgi resident enzyme mannosidase II and the transport machinery proteins giantin, KDEL-receptor, and rBet1 in coatomer protein I-coated cisternal rims and peri-Golgi vesicles. By contrast, when cells expressed vesicular stomatitis virus protein G this anterograde marker was largely absent from the peri-Golgi vesicles. These data suggest a role of peri-Golgi vesicles in recycling of Golgi residents, rather than an important role in anterograde transport.