ATP-coupled transport of vesicular stomatitis virus G protein between the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi.

The temperature and ATP dependence of transport of the vesicular stomatitis virus strain ts045 G protein from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to an early Golgi compartment containing mannosidase I was studied in the mutant Chinese hamster ovary cell clone 15B. Appearance of G protein containing the Man5GlcNAc2 oligosaccharide species occurred after a shift to the permissive temperature with a lag period of 5 min and without detectable formation of the intermediate Man7GlcNAc2 and Man6GlcNAc2 species. Two biochemically distinct transport steps were detected during transport from the ER to the Golgi. An initial step is temperature sensitive, thermoreversible, and requires a high threshold of cellular ATP for maximal rate of transport (80% of the normal cellular ATP pool). Export from the ER is inhibited at 65% of the normal cellular ATP pool. Prolonged incubation at reduced levels of cellular ATP or at the restrictive temperature resulted in the accumulation of G protein in either the Man8GlcNAc2 species or the Man7GlcNAc2 and Man6GlcNAc2 species, respectively. Reversal of the temperature-sensitive block is ATP coupled. A second step is insensitive to incubation at the restrictive temperature and proceeds efficiently when the cellular ATP pool is reduced to 20% of the control. G protein accumulates at this intermediate step during prolonged incubation at 15 degrees C. The data suggest a functional division of processes required for transport of protein between the ER and Golgi compartments. The two steps may reflect the export (budding) and delivery (fusion) of proteins through vesicular trafficking between the ER and Golgi.