Isolation of Golgi membranes from tissues and cells by differential and density gradient centrifugation.

This unit describes the isolation of Golgi membranes on a preparative basis. Methods are provided for rapid isolation of dextran-treated Golgi stacks from rat liver using a sucrose density barrier, and Golgi isolation by floatation from a light mitochondrial fraction, along with an alternate procedure using a self-generated iodixinol gradient. If the Golgi tends to vesiculate during homogenization (commonly the case with cultured cells), a primary requirement is to separate these vesicles from other microsomal compartments, so a procedure is described for a discontinuous gradient of sucrose for cultured cells, and an alternate protocol describes a continuous iodixinol gradient that may provide greater resolution. A self-generated iodixinol gradient is described to prepare Golgi membranes from a microsomal fraction of rat hepatocytes, and a standard Golgi enzyme marker assay is given in a support protocol.