The Secret World Inside Cells
William Brown

For many years, plant and animal cells were generally thought of as “bags of proteins, enzymes, and other soluble molecules.” However, following the development of specialized types of light and electron microscopy for use in biological research, it became clear that plant and animal cells are filled with many complex structures called organelles. Some of these intracellular organelles include the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complex, and lysosomes. Many cell biologists have dedicated their careers to figuring out what these organelles do and how they do it, what they are made of, and how they are constructed.

The goal of this exploration is to introduce students to fluorescence microscopic methods used for the study of organelle structure and function. Students will conduct experiments on cultured mammalian cells that have been treated with various chemical inhibitors of organelle function. Our studies will focus on the Golgi complex, an organelle of central importance for the processes of secretion and endocytosis. Students will be introduced to the use of green fluorescent protein (GFP) for imaging the structure and dynamic behavior of the Golgi complex in living cells. Time-lapse video microscopy of GFP-labeled Golgi complexes in living cells will be used to generate video movies.