Specific anti-chlathrin antibodies were used to isolate clathrin-coated membranes from homogenates of metabolically labelled fibroblasts. The isolated membranes were extracted with detergents and cathepsin D was isolated from the extracts. The 53-kDa precursor of cathepsin D was transiently associated with the coated membranes with a maximum approximately 60 min after synthesis. At maximum about 4.0% of the precursor was recovered with the coated membranes and the associated precursor contained complex oligosaccharides. The proportion of complex oligosaccharides in the coated membrane-associated precursor did not differ from that in the total precursor. These data support the view that coated membranes are involved in the transport of cathepsin D between trans Golgi and a prelysosomal organelle.