Differential association of rat liver heparan sulfate proteoglycans in membranes of the Golgi apparatus and the plasma membrane

Heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG) of rat liver are associated with the plasma membrane in a hydrophobic intrinsic and a hydrophilic extrinsic form. We were interested in determining whether or not these two forms could be detected in the Golgi apparatus, the subcellular site of addition of oligosaccharides and sulfate to HSPG. In vivo and in vitro radiolabeled HSPG from rat liver Golgi apparatus membranes could only be solubilized with detergents that disrupt the membrane lipid bilayer, suggesting that they are solely associated via hydrophobic interactions. Both forms of HSPG were detected in plasma membranes of rat liver and isolated rat hepatocytes. The detergent-solubilized HSPG bound to octyl-Sepharose columns, whereas the hydrophilic form did not; this latter form, however, was released from the membrane by heparin. The hydrophobic anchor of HSPG in the Golgi and plasma membranes was insensitive to treatment with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C under conditions in which alkaline phosphatase was sensitive; this suggests that the hydrophobic anchor of HSPG is the core protein itself. Preliminary experiments suggest that the subcellular site of processing of the hydrophobic to the hydrophilic form of HSPG is the plasma membrane. A specific processing activity, probably a protease of the plasma membrane not present in serum or the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, converted hydrophobic HSPG of the Golgi membrane to the hydrophilic form. In addition, pulse-chase experiments with [35S]Na2SO4 in rats demonstrated that at short times, the bulk of the radiolabeled cellular HSPG was in the Golgi apparatus; later on, the bulk of the radioactivity was found in the plasma membrane, the only subcellular site where the hydrophilic form of HSPG was detected