Endosomes Are Born from the Golgi Apparatus, the Cell's "Distribution Center," as Transport Carriers

July 29, 2026

Revealing a New Mechanism for Protein Transport to the Cell Surface

Researchers at Hiroshima University and the RIKEN RAP previously discovered that recycling endosomes receive protein cargo from the Golgi apparatus and transport it to the cell surface. In this study, the researchers generated genome-edited cells in which they could reversibly control the timing of cargo transport from the Golgi apparatus to recycling endosomes using a small-molecule compound. Initiating cargo transport during live-cell microscopy revealed that new recycling endosomes form directly from cargo-containing regions of the Golgi apparatus while encapsulating the cargo. They also demonstrated that these newly formed recycling endosomes carrying cargo subsequently fuse with pre-existing recycling endosomes, thereby transferring their cargo to the existing endosomal network. In collaboration with the RIKEN CSRS, the team performed three-dimensional electron microscopy and revealed that the newly formed recycling endosomes originate as bead-like membrane structures that extend from the Golgi apparatus. They also found that portions of these bead-like structures are coated with clathrin.

These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms of intracellular protein transport and are expected to contribute to a better understanding of diseases caused by defects in intracellular trafficking, as well as to future drug discovery research.

 

Original article

Nature Communications　DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-75784-1

A. Takiguchi, H. T. Shek, S. Sasaki, T. Tago1, T. Uehara, Y. Goto, K. Toyooka, K. Kurokawa, T. Tojima, A. Nakano, M. Maeda, T. Satoh, A. K. Satoh,

"Reversible control of post-Golgi transport by brefeldin A reveals recycling endosome maturation during glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein transport".

Contact

Kiminori Toyooka
Senior Technical Scientist
Mass Spectrometry and Microscopy Unit