Copper is an essential metal ion for embryonic development, iron acquisition, cardiac function, neuropeptide biogenesis, and other critical physiological processes. Ctr1 is a high affinity Cu ؉ transporter on the plasma membrane and endosomes that exists as a full-length protein and a truncated form of Ctr1 lacking the methionine-and histidine-rich metal-binding ectodomain, and it exhibits reduced Cu ؉ transport activity. Here, we identify the cathepsin L/B endolysosomal proteases functioning in a direct and rate-limiting step in the Ctr1 ectodomain cleavage. Cells and mice lacking cathepsin L accumulate full-length Ctr1 and hyper-accumulate copper. As Ctr1 also transports the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin via direct binding to the ectodomain, we demonstrate that the combination of cisplatin with a cathepsin L/B inhibitor enhances cisplatin uptake and cell killing. These studies identify a new processing event and the key protease that cleaves the Ctr1 metal-binding ectodomain, which functions to regulate cellular Cu ؉ and cisplatin acquisition.Copper is essential for key biological processes, including electron transfer, iron acquisition, dopamine hydrolysis, and superoxide disproportionation, and defects in copper metabolism are associated with cardiomyopathy, anemia, peripheral neuropathy, and neutropenia (1-6). Although many proteins involved in the acquisition and intracellular distribution of copper have been identified, little is known about the regulation of copper import. The transport of Cu ϩ from the extracellular environment is accomplished by the evolutionarily conserved homotrimeric integral membrane protein, copper transporter 1 (Ctr1) (7-13), which resides on the plasma membrane and in endosomal compartments (14 -18). High affinity Cu ϩ import via Ctr1 requires a methionine-and histidine-rich metal-binding extracellular domain (ectodomain) that is thought to concentrate extracellular Cu ϩ near the ion trans-membrane pore (19 -23). Additionally, Ctr1 binds the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin via the methionine ligands in the ectodomain and imports cisplatin and other platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents via an endocytic mechanism (24 -28). Despite a critical role for the Ctr1 ectodomain in both Cu ϩ and cisplatin import, both a full-length form and a truncated form of Ctr1 (tCtr1) 4 are present in cultured cells and tissues (18,29,30). The latter lacks the ectodomain and drives ϳ50% of the Cu ϩ uptake as compared with full-length Ctr1 (31).Previously, an integral membrane protein similar to Ctr1, denoted Ctr2, was shown to both interact with and regulate the ratio of full-length Ctr1 to tCtr1 in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and in specific tissues in Ctr2 knock-out mice (32). In the absence of Ctr2, MEFs possess dramatically lower levels of tCtr1, while simultaneously expressing high levels of full-length Ctr1 and accumulating Cu ϩ and cisplatin. A large fraction of the Cu ϩ accumulated in Ctr2 Ϫ/Ϫ MEFs and mouse tissues is found in endosomal compartments (32). The mechanism by which Ct...