The two mannose 6-phosphate (M6P) receptors were identified because of their ability to bind M6P-containing soluble acid hydrolases in the Golgi and transport them to the endosomal–lysosomal system. During the past decade, we have started to understand the structural features of these receptors that allow them to do this job, and how the receptors themselves are sorted as they pass through various membrane-bound compartments. But trafficking of acid hydrolases is only part of the story. Evidence is emerging that one of the receptors can regulate cell growth and motility, and that it functions as a tumour suppressor.