The thiol-dependent reductase ERp57 has been shown to interact specifically with in vitro synthesised glycoproteins imported into canine pancreatic microsomes. On this basis, it was proposed that ERp57 forms part of a glycoprotein-specific folding 'machinery', present in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In this study, we have investigated the interaction of ERp57 with newly synthesised proteins using semi-permeabilised mammalian cells (SP cells), in which the ER remains essentially intact and, hence, resembles that of a living cell. We demonstrate that ERp57 interacts preferentially with the glycosylated versions of soluble and membrane proteins, and that this interaction occurs in combination with calnexin and calreticulin. For the first time, we have performed a detailed analysis of the kinetics of ERp57 binding to newly synthesised glycoproteins. We find that ERp57 associates transiently with glycoproteins Ϫ a characteristic of molecular chaperones. Using mutant SP cells deficient in glucosidase I, we confirm that the binding of ERp57 to glycoproteins depends upon glucose trimming. We also demonstrate, for the first time, that the release of ERp57 from glycoprotein substrates is dependent upon glucose trimming. These data are combined to present a unified model for the role of ERp57/ER lectin complexes during glycoprotein folding in vivo.Keywords : endoplasmic reticulum ; ERp57/GRP58 ; molecular chaperone ; N-linked glycosylation; protein disulphide isomerase.The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane is a primary site of protein synthesis in mammalian cells. Newly synthesised proteins are inserted into, or translocated across, the ER membrane, from where they can reach their final destination in one of the organelles of the secretory pathway, the plasma membrane or the cell exterior.To facilitate protein maturation, the ER is equipped with a number of membrane and soluble proteins involved in the processing, modification, folding and oligomeric assembly of newly synthesised polypeptides. ER proteins involved in protein maturation include folding enzymes, such as peptidylprolyl cisϪtrans isomerase and members of the protein disulphide isomerase (PDI) family, as well as molecular chaperones of the Hsp70 and Hsp90 class heat-shock proteins, such as immunoglobulin heavy-chain-binding protein (BiP/GRP78) and GRP94 [1].In addition to these folding enzymes and chaperones, the ER contains two proteins with lectin-like properties, namely the type-I membrane protein calnexin, and its soluble homologue, calreticulin. Calnexin and calreticulin associate transiently with a wide variety of N-glycosylated proteins, and were proposed to influence folding, oligomerisation and ER retention. Together with several enzymes that modify N-linked oligosaccharides, calnexin and calreticulin constitute an ER quality-control machinery for glycoproteins [2].Calnexin and calreticulin display a specificity for monoglucosylated oligosaccharides [2Ϫ4] that are generated in the ER by the combined actions of two A-glucosidases and a...