The type II transmembrane serine protease TMPRSS6 (also known as matriptase-2) controls iron homeostasis through its negative regulation of expression of hepcidin, a key hormone involved in iron metabolism. Upstream of the hepcidin-regulated signaling pathway, TMPRSS6 cleaves its target substrate hemojuvelin (HJV) at the plasma membrane, but the dynamics of the cell-surface expression of the protease have not been addressed. Here, we report that TMPRSS6 undergoes constitutive internalization in transfected HEK293 cells and in two human hepatic cell lines, HepG2 and primary hepatocytes, both of which express TMPRSS6 endogenously. Cell surface-labeled TMPRSS6 was internalized and was detected in clathrin-and AP-2-positive vesicles via a dynamin-dependent pathway. The endocytosed TMPRSS6 next transited in early endosomes and then to lysosomes. Internalization of TMPRSS6 is dependent on specific residues within its N-terminal cytoplasmic domain, as site-directed mutagenesis of these residues abrogated internalization and maintained the enzyme at the cell surface. Cells coexpressing these mutants and HJV produced significantly decreased levels of hepcidin compared with wild-type TMPRSS6 due to the sustained cleavage of HJV at the cell surface by TMPRSS6 mutants. Our results underscore for the first time the importance of TMPRSS6 trafficking at the plasma membrane in the regulation of hepcidin expression, an event that is essential for iron homeostasis.The serine protease superfamily of hydrolytic enzymes is composed of Ͼ200 members (MEROPS Database (1)), most of them being secreted soluble proteins. TMPRSS6 (matriptase-2), a member of a novel family of type II transmembrane serine proteases that function at the cell surface (2), was originally characterized as a protease expressed mostly in the liver (3) and capable of processing proteins such as type I collagen, fibronectin, and fibrinogen (4, 5). The protease is a mosaic protein composed of multiple domains, including a 52-residue N-terminal cytoplasmic domain (6), a transmembrane domain that anchors the enzyme within membranes, and an extracellular domain itself constituted of multiple regions, including the catalytic region. Until now, no function had been associated with the cytoplasmic tail of the enzyme. TMPRSS6 is synthesized as an inactive zymogen with the catalytic region being disulfidelinked to the main chain following activation. Moreover, the enzyme undergoes cell-surface shedding, releasing a soluble and active form in the extracellular milieu (7). It exhibits many of the enzymatic specificities of other members of the type II transmembrane serine protease family, preferring arginine residues in P4, P3, and P1 positions relative to the cleaved peptide bond (5,8).Although TMPRSS6 has been associated with breast and prostate cancer (9, 10), recent reports have demonstrated its direct involvement in iron homeostasis. Indeed, genetic analysis of kindred suffering from iron-refractory iron deficiency anemia identified sequence variants in the TMPRSS6 gene, ...