Polarization of the Golgi apparatus and the microtubule-organizing center within cloned natural killer cells bound to their targets.

Abstract

In cell couples formed between a cloned murine natural killer (NK) cell and either of 2 target cells [mouse lymphoma YAC-1, myeloma S194], evidence was obtained by immunofluorescence observations for a rapid coordinate repositioning of 2 organelles, the microtubule organizing center and the perinuclear Golgi apparatus, inside the NK cell to face the region of contact with the target cell. With microtubule-disrupting drugs [taxol, nocodazole], which also cause a dispersion of the Golgi apparatus throughout the periphery of the NK cell, it was found that target cell lysis is reversibly inhibited. The coordinate repositioning of the 2 organelles probably serves the function of directing secretory vesicles derived from the Golgi apparatus to the bound target cells, the secretory vesicles containing components that induce target cell lysis.