Carbon tetrachloride suppresses ER-Golgi transport by inhibiting COPII vesicle formation on the ER membrane in the RLC-16 hepatocyte cell line.

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl ) causes hepatotoxicity in mammals, with its hepatocytic metabolism producing radicals that attack the intracellular membrane system and destabilize intracellular vesicle transport. Inhibition of intracellular transport causes lipid droplet retention and abnormal protein distribution. The intracellular transport of synthesized lipids and proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus is performed by coat complex II (COPII) vesicle transport, but how CCl inhibits COPII vesicle transport has not been elucidated. COPII vesicle formation on the ER membrane is initiated by the recruitment of Sar1 protein from the cytoplasm to the ER membrane, followed by that of the COPII coat constituent proteins (Sec23, Sec24, Sec13, and Sec31). In this study, we evaluated the effect of CCl on COPII vesicle formation using the RLC-16 rat hepatocyte cell line. Our results showed that CCl suppressed ER-Golgi transport in RLC-16 cells. Using a reconstituted system of rat liver tissue-derived cytoplasm and RLC-16 cell-derived ER membranes, CCl treatment inhibited the recruitment of Sar1 and Sec13 from the cytosolic fraction to ER membranes. CCl -induced changes in the ER membrane accordingly inhibited the accumulation of COPII vesicle-coated constituent proteins on the ER membrane, as well as the formation of COPII vesicles, which suppressed lipid and protein transport between the ER and Golgi apparatus. Our data suggest that CCl inhibits ER-Golgi intracellular transport by inhibiting COPII vesicle formation on the ER membrane in hepatocytes.