Association of mouse sorting nexin 1 with early endosomes

Sorting nexin 1 (SNX1) is a protein that binds to the cytoplasmic domain of plasma membrane receptors. We found that mouse sorting nexin 1 (SNX1) (521 amino acid residues) could partially rescue a yeast vam3 mutant defective in docking(fusion of vacuolar membranes. In mammalian cells, SNX1 is peripherally associated with membrane structures and localized immunochemically with EEA1, a marker protein of early endosomes. These results suggest that SNX1 regulates endocytic trafficking of plasma membrane proteins in early endosomes. Gel filtration of cell lysates and the purified recombinant protein, together with two-hybrid analysis, indicated that SNX1 self-assembles into a complex of similar to 300 kDa.