Traffic in the environs of regions of the hepatocyte's plasma membrane is heavy. A fuller understanding of the nature and control of this membrane traffic depends on the appreciation of the hepatocyte's plasma membrane. This conglomerate consists of a receptor-rich and metabolically dynamic blood-sinusoidal domain which is separated from the bile canalicular domain by a lateral domain which participates in cell-cell interactions (1, 2). The rapid receptor-mediated endocytotic uptake and processing of membrane receptor-ligand complexes occurring against a background of hepatic secretion is a key step in understanding relationships between intracellular membrane compartments and the maintenance of differentiated plasma membrane domains. The fate of a wide range of interiorized ligands appears to be decided upon transfer to a Golgi-endoplasmic reticulum lysosomal (GERL) locus where a processing decision is made leading to release of ligands in an intact form into sinusoids or bile canaliculi, or to degradation. This review discusses properties of receptor-binding sites for hormones and metabolites which are located primarily at the sinusoidal plasma membrane, the biogenesis of this membrane, and the various traffic routes of membrane-ligand complexes traversing the hepatocyte interior.THE HEPATOCYTE'S RECEPTOR-RICH SINUSOIDAL PLASMA MEMBRANE DOMAIN A large number of specific-binding sites for hormones and metabolites are at the sinusoidal aspect of the hepatocyte's surface. So extensive has the list of receptorbinding moieties become ( Table 1) that probably few molecules cross the plasma membrane barrier without the appropriate translocating signals which are recognized by membrane receptors. Receptor-mediated binding and subsequent uptake of membrane ligand complexes have achieved increasing importance as compared to absorptive-passive transfer into the hepatocyte. The paracellular shunt pathway into bile is confined mainly to small ions and water (3). Most of the binding sites in Table 1 are accounted for by discrete receptors which invite isolation and molecular characterization. Some hormones, e.g., prolactin and somatotropin, probably bind to the same receptor (4, 5). Studies of the action on liver metabolism of parathyroid hormone suggest a role for nonparenchymal liver cells; processing by peptide cleavage may be required for presentation of the correct polypeptide hormone fragment to the hepatocyte surface receptor (6). Intercellular metabolic cooperation between hepatocytes and surrounding cells has also been suggested in the uptake of carcinoembryonic antigen (7).Because steroid hormones are lipophilic compounds which could be taken up by diffusion, it may appear surprising that hepatocyte plasma membrane steroid receptor sites have been identified in addition to those in cytosol and nucleus (8). These high-affinity estrogenbinding sites are clearly distinguished from sites in estrogen degradation and modification. Plasma membrane steroid receptors are probably widely distributed on target tissues; e.g., ...