Protein Targeting to Mitochondria
( Volume 17 )
Publication series ：Volume 17
Publisher： Elsevier Science
Publication year： 1997
E-ISBN: 9780080877006
P-ISBN(Paperback): 9780762301447
P-ISBN(Hardback): 9780762301447
Subject： Q244 a system of intracellular membran
Language： ENG
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
Description
A large number of newly-synthesized polypeptides must cross one or several intracellular membranes to reach their functional locations in the eukaryotic cell. The mechanisms of protein trafficking, in particular the post-translational targeting and membrane translocation of proteins, are of fundamental biological importance and are the focus of intensive research world-wide. For more than 15 years, mitochondria have served as the paradigm organelle system to study these processes. Although key questions, such as how precisely proteins cross a membrane, still remain to be answered, exciting progress has been made in understanding the basic pathways of protein import into mitochondria and the components involved. In addition to a fascinating richness and complexity in detail, the analysis of mitochondrial protein import has revealed mechanistic principles of general significance: Major discoveries include the demonstration of the requirement of an unfolded state for translocation and of the essential role of molecular chaperones on both sides of the membranes in maintaining a translocation-competent conformation and in protein folding after import. It is becoming clear how a polypeptide chain is "reeled" across the membrane in an ATP-dependent process by the functional cooperation of membrane proteins, presumably constituting part of a transmembrane channel, with peripheral components at the trans-side of the membrane.
In this volume, eminent experts in the field take the
Chapter