Effect of monensin on the Golgi apparatus of absorptive cells in the small intestine of the rat. Morphological and cytochemical studies.

The effect of short-time treatment with the ionophore monensin, administered intraluminally at concentrations of 5 and 10 microM, was studied on the Golgi apparatus of absorptive cells in the small intestine of the rat. At 2-3 min after treatment most of the Golgi stacks exhibited dilated cisternae. At 4-5 min stacked cisternae were absent; they were replaced by groups of smooth-surfaced vacuoles. Dilatation and vacuolization occurred in the entire stacks without preferential effect on any particular Golgi subcompartment. Monensin did not influence the cytochemical Golgi reaction of thiamine pyrophosphatase and acid phosphatase. The characteristic staining pattern of these two enzymes in all Golgi cisternae of absorptive cells in the proximal small intestine, and the reactivity restricted to trans cisternae in distal segments of the small intestine, were unchanged after treatment with monensin. In the distal small intestine, the cytochemical pattern allowed the monensin-induced vacuoles to be attributed to the former cis- or trans-Golgi face. Further, the cytochemical results demonstrate that vacuolization is not restricted to the stacked cisternae, but includes the trans-most cisterna. The latter, usually located at some distance from the Golgi stacks, has been defined as belonging to the GERL system in several types of cells. The clear response to monensin, an agent that selectively affects the Golgi apparatus, indicates common properties between trans-most and stacked Golgi cisternae.