Newly synthesized G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus is not transported to the cell surface during mitosis

Indirect immunofluorescence, immunoelectron microscopy, and digestion by protease were used to study intracellular transport of the G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus in mitotic and interphase cells. Quantitation showed that the appearance of G protein on the surface of mitotic cells was inhibited at least 10-fold when compared with that on interphase cells, even though similar amounts of viral protein were being synthesized. This dramatic inhibition, taken together with the simultaneous inhibition of endocytosis (Berlin, R. D., and J. M. Oliver, 1980, J. Cell Biol. 85: 660-671), points to a general cessation of membrane traffic in the mitotic cell.