Evidence that the heads of ADH-sensitive aggrephores are clathrin-coated vesicles: implications for aggrephore structure and function.

Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) induces the fusion of long tubular organelles (aggrephores) with the luminal membrane of the receptor cell, and the delivery of particle aggregates to the membrane. Water flow is believed to take place through the particles. Nothing is known about the origin of the particle aggregates, their incorporation into the aggrephores, or the possible relationship of the aggrephores to the vesicular traffic that takes place in the epithelial cell. In the present studies of the ADH-sensitive epithelial cells of the toad urinary bladder, we have found that the spherical heads of the aggrephores appear to be clathrin-coated vesicles. We propose that vesicles originating from sites such as the Golgi or the luminal membrane may be engaged in aggrephore assembly, the resupply of particle aggregates to the aggrephores, and/or the removal of aggregates, and that the aggrephores may be central points in the pattern of vesicular traffic in the cell.