Martin Stein

Complementary DNA clones for the human cation-dependent mannose 6-phosphate-specific receptor have been isolated from a human placenta library in lambda gt11. The nucleotide sequence of the 2463-base-pair cDNA insert includes a 145-base-pair 5' untranslated region, an open reading frame of 831 base pairs corresponding to 277 amino acids (Mr = 30,993), and a 1487-base-pair 3' untranslated region. The deduced amino acid sequence is colinear with that determined by amino acid sequencing of the N-terminus peptide (41 residues) and nine tryptic peptides (93 additional residues). The receptor is synthesized as a precursor with a signal peptide of 20 amino acids. The hydrophobicity profile of the receptor indicates a single membrane-spanning domain, which separates an N-terminal region containing five potential N-glycosylation sites from a C-terminal region lacking N-glycosylation sites. Thus the N-terminal (Mr = 18,299) and C-terminal (Mr less than or equal to 7648) segments of the mature receptor are assumed to be exposed to the extracytosolic and cytosolic sides of the membrane, respectively. Analysis of a panel of somatic cell (mouse-human) hybrids shows that the gene for the receptor is located on human chromosome 12.

A cation-dependent mannose 6-phosphate-specific receptor has recently been isolated from murine P388D1 macrophages and bovine liver (B. Hoflack & S. Kornfeld, (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 12008-12014). The receptor purified from human liver has a subunit molecular size of 43 kDa, is rich in hydrophobic and charged amino acids and contains threonine at the N-terminus. The receptors from human and rat liver are antigenically related. Both are immunologically distinct from the cation-independent 215-kDa mannose 6-phosphate-specific receptor from human liver. Cross-linking experiments indicate that the cation-dependent receptor exists in solution as a tetramer. Modification of arginine and histidine residues, reduced drastically the binding of the receptor to immobilized ligands. Presence of mannose 6-phosphate during modification of arginine residues protected the binding properties of the receptor, suggesting that arginine is a constituent of the mannose 6-phosphate binding site of the receptor. The significance of the inability of histidine-modified receptors to bind ligands remains to be established.