Figure 2: Two models of protein trafficking through the Golgi (A) The cisternal maturation model of protein movement

through the Golgi. As a new cis cisterna is formed it traverses the Golgi stack, changing as it matures by accumulating medial, then trans enzymes through vesicles that move from later to earlier cisternae (retrograde traffic). (B) The vesicular transport model, where each cisterna remains in one place with unchanging enzymes, and the proteins move forward through the stack via vesicles that move from earlier to later cisternae (anterograde traffic). 2006 Nature Publishing Group Malhotra, V. & Mayor, S. Cell biology: The Golgi grows up. Nature 441, 939940 (2006) doi:10.1038/441939a. All rights reserved.

The Vesicular Transport Model: Evidence

One of the principal observations by Rothman's group was that the vesicles that formed in the Golgi moved cargo proteins between cisternae from the cis face to the trans face. These observations suported the vesicular transport model originally developed and advocated by George Palade and Marilyn Farquhar (Farquhar & Palade 1998.) The vesicular trasnport model posits that the Golgi cisternae are stable compartments that house certain protein modification enzymes that function to add or remove sugars, add sulfate groups, and perform other modifications. Vesicles arrive at each cisterna carrying cargo proteins, which are then modified by the resident enzymes located within that cisterna. Next, new vesicles carrying the cargo proteins bud from the cisterna and travel to the next stable cisterna, where the next series of enzymes further processes the protein cargo (Rothman & Wieland 1996).

The Cisternal Maturation Model

Before the work of Palade, Farquhar, Rothman and others who analyzed the vesicles moving proteins between Golgi cisternae, scientists thought that each Golgi cisterna was transient and that the cisternae themselves moved from the cis to the trans face of the Golgi, changing over time. The movement of proteins as passengers within cisternae through the Golgi stack is called the cisternal maturation model. This model proposes that the enzymes present in each individual cisterna change over time, while the cargo proteins remain inside the cisterna. Before Rothman's work on vesicles, this model had broad support. However, once scientists identified the large numbers of small transport vesicles surrounding the Golgi, researchers developed the vesicular transport model as an updated replacement. However, as often happens in science (and in fashion), old ideas sometimes come back in new ways.

Figure 13-29The functional compartmentalization of the Golgi apparatus The localization of each processing step shown was determined by a combination of techniques, including biochemical subfractionation of the Golgi apparatusmembranes and electron microscopy after staining with antibodies specific for some of the processing enzymes. The locations of many other processing reactions have not been determined. Although only three distinguishable cisternal compartments have so far been demonstrated, each of these sometimes consists of a group of two or more cisternae in sequence. It is likely that each processing enzyme is not completely restricted to a particular cisterna but that its distribution is graded across the stacksuch that early acting enzymes are present mostly in the cis Golgi cisternae and later acting enzymes are mostly in the trans Golgi cisternae.
From: Transport from the ER through the Golgi Apparatus (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26941/)