Retromer: A master conductor of endosome sorting

Abstract

The endosomal network comprises an interconnected network of membranous compartments whose primary function is to receive, dissociate, and sort cargo that originates fromthe plasma membrane and the biosynthetic pathway. A major challenge in cell biology is to achieve a thorough molecular description of howthis network operates, and in so doing, how defects contribute to the etiology and pathology of human disease.We discuss the increasing body of evidence that implicates an ancient evolutionary conserved complex, termed "retromer," as a master conductor in the complex orchestration of multiple cargo-sorting events within the endosomal network. © 2014 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.