Sortilin mediates the lysosomal targeting of cathepsins D and H.

Delivery of soluble lysosomal proteins to the lysosomes is dependent primarily on the mannose 6-phosphate receptor (M6PR). However, in I-cell disease (ICD), in which the M6PR pathway is non-functional, some soluble lysosomal proteins continue to traffic to the lysosomes. In this paper, we tested the hypothesis that cathepsins D and H, two soluble proteases that exhibit M6PR-independent trafficking, are targeted to the lysosomes by sortilin. Using a dominant-negative sortilin construct and small interfering RNA (siRNA) we demonstrated that while cathepsin D transport is partially dependent upon sortilin, cathepsin H requires exclusively sortilin for its transport to the lysosomes. Our results suggest that sortilin functions as an alternative sorting receptor to the M6PR for these soluble hydrolases.