Introduction

Abstract

The complex apparatus of stacked cisternae, tubules, and vesicles, “il apparato reticulare interno” (Fig. 1), first described by Camillo Golgi in 1898 (Golgi 1898), then neglected during many years, has been rediscovered and in the last decades been proved a central crossroad in intracellular traffic. Elements of the Golgi apparatus are important stations in the routes of newly synthesized molecules, including secretory molecules, membrane constituents, and lysosomal enzymes, as well as internalized molecules (Fig. 2 ; for recent reviews, see Bennett 1984; Dunphy and Rothman 1985; Farquhar 1985; Farquhar and Palade 1981; Goldfischer 1982; Hand and Oliver 1981; Morré and Ovtracht 1977; Palade 1983; Rothman 1985; Slot and Geuze 1983; Tartakoff 1980, 1983 a; Völkl 1980; Whaley and Dauwalder 1979).