The ability of acute insulin treatment to elicit a redistribution of the liver insulin-like growth factor-II/ mannose 6-phosphate (IGF-II/M6P) receptor has been studied in rats, using cell fractionation. Injection of insulin (0.4 -50 g) led to a time-and dose-dependent decrease in IGF-II binding activity in Golgi-endosomal (GE) fractions, along with an increase in activity in the plasma membrane (PM) fraction; only receptor number was affected. Quantitative subfractionation of the microsomal fraction on sucrose density gradients showed that IGF-II binding activity distributed similarly to galactosyltransferase (a Golgi marker), at slightly higher densities than in vivo internalized 125 I-insulin, and at lower densities than 5' nucleotidase and alkaline phosphodiesterase (two plasma membrane markers). Insulin treatment led to a slight time-dependent and reversible shift of IGF-II binding activity toward higher densities. Subfractionation of the GE fraction on Percoll gradients showed that IGF-II binding activity was broadly distributed, with about 60% at low densities coinciding with galactosyltransferase and early internalized 125 I-insulin and with 40% at high densities in the region of late internalized 125 I-insulin. Insulin treatment caused a time-dependent and reversible shift of the distribution of IGF-II binding activity toward low densities. On SDS-PAGE, the size of the affinity-labeled IGF-II/M6P receptor was comparable in GE and PM fractions (about 255 kDa), but on Western blots receptor size was slightly lower in the latter (245 kDa) than in the former (255 kDa). Insulin treatment did not affect the size, but modified the abundance of the IGF-II/M6P receptor in a manner similar to that of IGF-II binding. In vivo chloroquine treatment fully suppressed the changes in IGF-II binding activity in liver GE and PM fractions observed in insulin-treated rats. We conclude that insulin elicits a time-dependent and reversible redistribution of liver IGF-II receptors from Golgi elements and endosomes to the plasma membrane, presumably via early endosomes.