Selective cargo and membrane recognition by SNX17 regulates its interaction with Retriever

The Retriever complex recycles a wide range of transmembrane proteins from endosomes to the plasma membrane. The cargo adapter protein SNX17 has been implicated in recruiting the Retriever complex to endosomal membranes, yet the details of this interaction have remained elusive. Through biophysical and structural model-guided mutagenesis studies with recombinant proteins and liposomes, we have gained a deeper understanding of this process. Here, we demonstrate a direct interaction between SNX17 and Retriever, specifically between the C-terminal region of SNX17 and the interface of the Retriever subunits VPS35L and VPS26C. This interaction is enhanced upon the binding of SNX17 to its cargo in solution, due to the disruption of an intramolecular autoinhibitory interaction between the C-terminal region of SNX17 and the cargo binding pocket. In addition, SNX17 binding to membranes containing phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate also promotes Retriever recruitment in a cargo-independent manner. Therefore, this work provides evidence of the dual activation mechanisms by which SNX17 modulates Retriever recruitment to the proximity of cargo and membranes, offering significant insights into the regulatory mechanisms of protein recycling at endosomes.