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PROTEIN TRANSLOCATION

The mitochondrial gate reveals its secrets

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Finally, the architecture of the translocase of the mitochondrial outer membrane (TOM complex) is revealed, after 20 years of anticipation. Two groups have now determined the near-atomic structures of the TOM complex. These findings improve understanding of the mechanisms by which TOM facilitates the passage of about 1,000 different proteins from the cytosol into the mitochondria.

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Fig. 1: The TOM complex serves as the general gate to mitochondria and facilitates both the transfer of precursor proteins across the outer membrane and their sorting to the correct import pathway.

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Acknowledgements

I thank T. Jores for the figure concept, and K.S. Dimmer and D.G. Vitali for helpful comments. Work in the author’s laboratory is supported by grants from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

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  1. Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Doron Rapaport

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  1. Doron Rapaport
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Correspondence to Doron Rapaport.

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Rapaport, D. The mitochondrial gate reveals its secrets. Nat Struct Mol Biol 26, 1083–1085 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-019-0346-3

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