Depolymerization of the microtubules is thought to lead to the disruption and scattering of the Golgi apparatus. A drug called nocodazole has the ability to depolymerize microtubules when administered in vivo . Through the use of immunofluorescence microscopy it was found that in the initial experiments, increasing concentrations of nocodazole result in depolymerization of microtubules. However, later experiments were not able to confirm that this depolymerization leads to disruption of the Golgi apparatus in mouse fibroblast L cells.
Microtubules provide the shape and structural organization of the cell.
Microtubules are also the only cytoskeletal elements that have been found to have a direct and distinct relationship with the Golgi apparatus. The Golgi represents the crossroad where a variety of cellular components are transferred from the ER by small vesicles, processed, and sorted on their way to secretory vesicles and lysosomes. The Golgi apparatus is located near the centrosome, a centrally located organelle that is the primary microtubule organizing center. The Golgi apparatus depends on the microtubules for alignment and positioning. The addition of nocodazole to the L cell populations destroys the organization and hence the trafficking controls of the microtubules.