The alpha-1,2 fucosylated tubule system of DU145 prostate cancer cells is derived from a partially fragmented Golgi complex and its formation is actin-dependent.

In previous work, we showed that highly proliferative cells and cancer cells, but not cells with normal growth rate, have tubules rich in alpha-1,2 fucosylated epitopes that extend radially from the nucleus to the cell periphery and form an unusual uptake system. The importance of alpha-1,2 fucosylation in forming tubules was demonstrated by proving that down-regulating the two corresponding fucosyltransferases (FUT1 and FUT2) causes tubule fragmentation. Here, we present evidence that in the prostate cancer cell line DU145, the tubules arise in actively growing cells from vesicles in the medial and trans elements of a partially fragmented Golgi complex, while in not actively growing cells the tubules become completely independent from the Golgi complex. Formation and elongation of the tubules proved to depend on the actin cytoskeleton, since the alpha-1,2 fucosylated protein(s) segregate with the cytoskeleton proteins, and not in the membrane fraction, as do the Golgi markers and other fucosylated proteins, while depolymerization of the actin filaments causes tubule fragmentation and shifting of the alpha-1,2 fucosylated proteins into the membrane fraction.