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Cover  The Golgi apparatus plays a central role in protein processing and sorting within the secretory pathway. As shown in this freeze fracture image of a Golgi stack, provided by Bechara Kachar (NIDCD, NIH), the Golgi is typically organized as polarized stacks of flattened cisternae, with vesicles and tubules at its rims. The stacks are believed to be enriched with transmembrane processing enzymes that catalyze the modification of glycoproteins and initiate the biosynthesis of glycolipids, proteoglycans, and polysaccharides, which play essential roles in the plasma membrane and extracellular environment of cells. The tubules and vesicles surrounding the Golgi are thought to mediate protein sorting and trafficking events within the Golgi. These events result in forward movement of secretory cargo and retrograde transport of enzymes within the Golgi system. Although the Golgi was discovered nearly 100 years ago, there is much that we still do not understand regarding its structure and function (for review see B.J. Marsh and K.E. Howell. [2002]. Timeline: The mammalian Golgi-complex debates. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell. Biol. 3, 789-795).