retromer complex

GO:0030904 · Other · Multiprotein complex · Proposed

A conserved hetero-pentameric membrane-associated complex involved in retrograde transport from endosomes to the Golgi apparatus. The budding yeast retromer comprises Vps35p, Vps29p, Vps26p, Vps5p, and Vps17p. The mammalian complex shows slight variation in composition compared to yeast, and comprises SNX1 or SNX2, SNX5 or SNX6, VPS26A or VPS26B, VPS29, and VPS35. [GO:0030904]

Synonyms: retromer; yeast retromer complex

Has part: retromer, cargo-selective complex (GO:0030906); retromer, tubulation complex (GO:0030905)

UniProt location names: UniProt Consortium, CC BY 4.0. Reference label and route sources.

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Genes	Essential	Role
Vps35 retromer subunit	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	VPS35	UNKNOWN	Cargo-selective Vps35 constituent of the yeast retromer complex. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 identified Vps35p, Vps29p, Vps26p, Vps5p and Vps17p as subunits of the yeast retromer complex. `GO:0030904` The GO retromer-complex definition names this budding-yeast protein as one of the Vps subunits.
Vps29 retromer subunit	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	VPS29	UNKNOWN	Cargo-selective Vps29 constituent of the yeast retromer complex. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 identified Vps35p, Vps29p, Vps26p, Vps5p and Vps17p as subunits of the yeast retromer complex. `GO:0030904` The GO retromer-complex definition names this budding-yeast protein as one of the Vps subunits.
Vps26 retromer subunit	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	VPS26	UNKNOWN	Cargo-selective Vps26 constituent of the yeast retromer complex. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 identified Vps35p, Vps29p, Vps26p, Vps5p and Vps17p as subunits of the yeast retromer complex. `GO:0030904` The GO retromer-complex definition names this budding-yeast protein as one of the Vps subunits.
Vps5 retromer subunit	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	VPS5	UNKNOWN	Tubulation-subcomplex Vps5 constituent of the yeast retromer complex. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 identified Vps35p, Vps29p, Vps26p, Vps5p and Vps17p as subunits of the yeast retromer complex. `GO:0030904` The GO retromer-complex definition names this budding-yeast protein as one of the Vps subunits.
Vps17 retromer subunit	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	VPS17	UNKNOWN	Tubulation-subcomplex Vps17 constituent of the yeast retromer complex. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 identified Vps35p, Vps29p, Vps26p, Vps5p and Vps17p as subunits of the yeast retromer complex. `GO:0030904` The GO retromer-complex definition names this budding-yeast protein as one of the Vps subunits.

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:4932 Saccharomyces cerevisiae — COMMON: Budding yeast retromer contains Vps35p, Vps29p, Vps26p, Vps5p and Vps17p and supports endosome-to-Golgi retrieval. [DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:4932 Saccharomyces cerevisiae — Model in which Seaman, McCaffery and Emr defined retromer as a two-subcomplex Vps35/Vps29/Vps26 plus Vps5/Vps17 membrane coat complex. [DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665]

Functions

retrograde transport, endosome to Golgi GO:0042147 — Retromer mediates retrieval from endosomal membranes to the Golgi apparatus.
- GO:0042147 GO:0042147 denotes retrograde transport from endosomes back to the trans-Golgi network.
- DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665 Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 described yeast retromer as a membrane-associated complex required for endosome-to-Golgi retrieval.

Mechanism graphs

Retromer mediates yeast endosome-to-Golgi retrieval (FUNCTION)

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Vps35/Vps29/Vps26 and Vps5/Vps17 subcomplexes assemble the retromer complex, which mediates endosome-to-Golgi retrieval.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
Vps35 retromer subunit	is part of	retromer, cargo-selective complex	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 placed Vps35p in a Vps35p/Vps29p/Vps26p subcomplex.
Vps29 retromer subunit	is part of	retromer, cargo-selective complex	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 placed Vps29p in a Vps35p/Vps29p/Vps26p subcomplex.
Vps26 retromer subunit	is part of	retromer, cargo-selective complex	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 placed Vps26p in a Vps35p/Vps29p/Vps26p subcomplex.
Vps5 retromer subunit	is part of	retromer, tubulation complex	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 placed Vps5p in a Vps5p/Vps17p membrane-coat subcomplex.
Vps17 retromer subunit	is part of	retromer, tubulation complex	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 placed Vps17p in a Vps5p/Vps17p membrane-coat subcomplex.
retromer, cargo-selective complex	is part of	retromer complex	`GO:0030906` GO:0030906 denotes the cargo-selective retromer subcomplex. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 described yeast retromer as assembling from Vps35p/Vps29p/Vps26p and Vps5p/Vps17p subcomplexes.
retromer, tubulation complex	is part of	retromer complex	`GO:0030905` GO:0030905 denotes the tubulation retromer subcomplex. `DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 described yeast retromer as assembling from Vps35p/Vps29p/Vps26p and Vps5p/Vps17p subcomplexes.
retromer complex	participates in	retrograde transport, endosome to Golgi	`DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665` Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998 described retromer as essential for endosome-to-Golgi retrograde transport.

Discussions

CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve exact source-neutral InterPro or Pfam groundings for retromer subunit classes spanning yeast Vps proteins and metazoan VPS or SNX paralogs. This first retromer record records the named Saccharomyces cerevisiae Vps subunits and the corresponding metazoan VPS/SNX variation in the GO definition without asserting exact family groundings until those family identifiers are reviewed exactly.

Evidence

GO:0030904 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the retromer complex.
GO:0098796 Gene Ontology cellular-component parent term for membrane protein complexes.
GO:0030906 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the cargo-selective retromer subcomplex.
GO:0030905 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the tubulation retromer subcomplex.
GO:0042147 Gene Ontology biological-process term for retrograde transport from endosome to Golgi.
DOI:10.1083/jcb.142.3.665 Seaman, McCaffery and Emr 1998, A Membrane Coat Complex Essential for Endosome-to-Golgi Retrograde Transport in Yeast, Journal of Cell Biology.

Curation history

2026-09-16T17:10:55Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-16T17:11:55Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added retromer synonymy, GO membrane-complex parentage, cargo-selective and tubulation subcomplex parthood, reviewed-label-only Vps35/Vps29/Vps26/Vps5/Vps17 yeast components, Saccharomyces scope, endosome-to-Golgi retrieval function, GO/DOI evidence, a nonmechanistic yeast retrieval graph, and a component-grounding TODO.
2026-09-16T17:21:00Z codex · ADDRESSED_PR_REVIEW — Added Seaman 1998 evidence to the retromer subcomplex-to-parent graph edges for PR #1112 / issue #1113.

Source: data/structures/other/retromer_complex.yaml