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J. Cell Biol.,
Volume 140, Number 3, February 9, 1998 617-626



* Centro di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Dipartimento di Biologia e
Patologia Cellulare e Molecolare, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80131 Napoli, Italy; and Most epithelial cells sort glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins to the apical surface. The "raft" hypothesis, based on data mainly obtained in the prototype cell line MDCK, postulates that
apical sorting depends on the incorporation of apical
proteins into cholesterol/glycosphingolipid (GSL) rafts, rich in the cholesterol binding protein caveolin/VIP21,
in the Golgi apparatus. Fischer rat thyroid (FRT) cells
constitute an ideal model to test this hypothesis, since
they missort both endogenous and transfected GPI-
anchored proteins to the basolateral plasma membrane
and fail to incorporate them into cholesterol/glycosphingolipid clusters. Because FRT cells lack caveolin,
a major component of the caveolar coat that has been
proposed to have a role in apical sorting of GPI-
anchored proteins (Zurzolo, C., W. Van't Hoff, G. van
Meer, and E. Rodriguez-Boulan. 1994. EMBO [Eur.
Mol. Biol. Organ.] J. 13:42-53.), we carried out experiments to determine whether the lack of caveolin accounted for the sorting/clustering defect of GPI-
anchored proteins. We report here that FRT cells lack
morphological caveolae, but, upon stable transfection
of the caveolin1 gene (cav1), form typical flask-shaped
caveolae. However, cav1 expression did not redistribute GPI-anchored proteins to the apical surface, nor
promote their inclusion into cholesterol/GSL rafts. Our
results demonstrate that the absence of caveolin1 and morphologically identifiable caveolae cannot explain
the inability of FRT cells to sort GPI-anchored proteins
to the apical domain. Thus, FRT cells may lack additional factors required for apical sorting or for the clustering with GSLs of GPI-anchored proteins, or express
factors that inhibit these events. Alternatively, cav1 and
caveolae may not be directly involved in these processes.
Margaret Dyson Vision
Research Institute and Department of Cell Biology, Cornell University Medical College, New York 10021
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