The treatment of normal rat kidney cells with N-ethylmaleimide caused the release of β-COP, a component of coatomer, from the Golgi apparatus without causing disassembly of the organelle. The release of β-COP, which was not due to depolymerization of microtubules, was markedly blocked by the activation of GTP-binding proteins by aluminum fluoride or a nonhydrolyzable analogue of GTP. To determine which component is N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive, we reconstituted the recruitment of coatomer from the bovine brain cytosol onto the Golgi apparatus in digitonin-permeabilized cells. In cells treated with N-ethylmaleimide before permeabilization, β-COP was still recruited onto the Golgi apparatus. In contrast, β-COP was not recruited when N-ethylmaleimide-treated bovine brain cytosol was used. These results suggest that the N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor(s) are present in the cytosol. It is known that coatomer and ADP-ribosylation factor-1 (ARF1) are the only cytoplasmic proteins needed for the assembly of Golgi-derived coated vesicles. N-Ethylmaleimide treatment of a coatomer-rich fraction did not affect the binding of β-COP to the Golgi apparatus, whereas the same treatment of an ARF-rich fraction abolished β-COP binding. Similar results were obtained using purified recombinant ARF1. Concomitant with inactivation, 0.85 mol of N-ethylmaleimide was incorporated into 1 mol of ARF1. ARF1 contains only one cysteine residue (Cys-159), which is located near the base moiety of the bound guanine nucleotide.