The 46 kDa mannose-6-phosphate receptor contains a signal for basolateral sorting within the 19 juxtamembrane cytosolic residues.

The cytosolic domain of the 46 kDa mannose-6-phosphate receptor (MPR 46) contains a signal that mediates sorting of the receptor and of a reporter protein to the basolateral surface domain of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. Progressive truncation of the 67 cytosolic residues indicated that the 19 juxtamembrane residues are sufficient for basolateral sorting. Alanine/glycine-scanning mutagenesis identified Glu-11 and Ala-17 as the critical residues between residues 7 and 19. Glu-11 is also of critical importance for the one of the three internalization signals in the cytosolic tail of the receptor [Denzer, Weber, Hille-Rehfeld, von Figura and Pohlmann (1997) Biochem. J. 326, 497-505]. Although overlapping, the signals for basolateral sorting and internalization depend on different residues. The basolateral sorting signal of MPR 46 is distinct from tyrosine- or dileucine-based basolateral sorting signals and also lacks similarity to the few other basolateral signals that do not fall into these two classes.