One study has found that these steroid-carrier complexes are bound by megalin, a membrane receptor, and are then taken into cells via endocytosis. One possible pathway is that once inside the cell these complexes are taken to the lysosome, where the carrier protein is degraded and the steroid hormone is released into the cytoplasm of the target cell. The hormone then follows a genomic pathway of action. This process is shown in Figure 2 to the right. The role of endocytosis in steroid hormone transport is not well understood and is under further investigation.