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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Measurement of Protein Import Capacity of Skeletal Muscle Mitochondria
Published on: January 7, 2022
Cooperation of translocase complexes in mitochondrial protein import
Stephan Kutik1, Bernard Guiard, Helmut E Meyer
1Institut für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Zentrum für Biochemie und Molekulare Zellforschung, and 2Fakultät für Biologie, Universität Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Most mitochondrial proteins are synthesized in the cytosol and imported into one of the four mitochondrial compartments: outer membrane, intermembrane space, inner membrane, and matrix. Each compartment contains protein complexes that interact with precursor proteins and promote their transport. These translocase complexes do not act as independent units but cooperate with each other and further membrane complexes in a dynamic manner. We propose that a regulated coupling of translocases is important for the coordination of preprotein translocation and efficient sorting to intramitochondrial compartments.
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