Signaling at the Golgi: sensing and controlling the membrane fluxes

Over the past few decades, it has emerged that the Golgi (and other secretory stations) is host to a variety of signaling molecules and can act as a signaling hub that receives, emits and elaborates signals. This endomembrane-based signaling apparatus appears to have more than one purpose. Its most fundamental function appears to be the auto-regulation of the biosynthetic apparatus to maintain and/or optimize its own activities and to coordinate such activities with those of other cellular modules. 1 This is achieved by dedicated control devices that provide stability, robustness, precision, sensitivity and complexity to cellular behaviors.