Mitochondrial tRNA import – the challenge to understand has just begun
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Abstract
Mitochondrial translation is important for the synthesis of proteins involved in oxidative phosphorylation, which yields the bulk of the ATP made in cells. During evolution most mitochondria-containing organisms have lost tRNA genes from their mitochondrial genomes. Thus, to support the essential process of nuanced mitochondrial translation, mechanisms to actively transport tRNAs from the cytoplasm across the mitochondrial membranes into the mitochondrion have evolved. Here, we review the currently known tRNA import mechanisms, comment on recent discoveries of various import factors, and suggest a rationale for forces that lie behind the evolution of mitochondrial tRNA import.
©2009 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
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Articles in the same Issue
- Guest Editorial
- Highlight: The gatekeepers of life yield their secrets
- Highlight: Membrane Transport and Communication
- First structural insights into the TpsB/Omp85 superfamily
- Regulative interactions of the osmosensing C-terminal domain in the trimeric glycine betaine transporter BetP from Corynebacteriumglutamicum
- Structural and functional aspects of the multidrug efflux pump AcrB
- From the Sec complex to the membrane insertase YidC
- Emerging roles of mitochondrial membrane dynamics in health and disease
- Mitochondrial tRNA import – the challenge to understand has just begun
- Multiple pathways for mitochondrial protein traffic
- Challenges to our current view on chloroplasts
- Molecular interactions within the plant TOC complex
- Protein transport across the peroxisomal membrane
- On the fate of early endosomes
- ZMPSTE24, an integral membrane zinc metalloprotease with a connection to progeroid disorders
- Protein targeting by the signal recognition particle
- The peptide-loading complex – antigen translocation and MHC class I loading
- Protein-lipid interactions: paparazzi hunting for snap-shots
- The nanodisc: a novel tool for membrane protein studies
- NMR and EPR studies of membrane transporters