Abstract:The controlled biogenesis of mitochondria is a key cellular system coordinated with the cell division cycle, and major efforts in systems biology currently are directed toward understanding of the control points at which this coordination is achieved. Here we present insights into the function, evolution, and regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis through the study of the protein import machinery in the human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans. Features that distinguish C. albicans from baker's yeast (Saccharom… Show more
“…We even observed increased amounts of cytochrome b 2 , a protein that is imported into the IMS on a stop-transfer pathway ( Glick et al, 1992 ; Gärtner et al, 1995 ; Esaki et al, 1999 ) and that was not expected to be influenced by the presence of Mia40. However, it was previously proposed that in Candida albicans , the homolog of cytochrome b 2 might be imported in a Mia40-driven reaction ( Hewitt et al, 2012 ). 10.7554/eLife.16177.012 Figure 7.…”
Many proteins of the mitochondrial IMS contain conserved cysteines that are oxidized to disulfide bonds during their import. The conserved IMS protein Mia40 is essential for the oxidation and import of these proteins. Mia40 consists of two functional elements: an N-terminal cysteine-proline-cysteine motif conferring substrate oxidation, and a C-terminal hydrophobic pocket for substrate binding. In this study, we generated yeast mutants to dissect both Mia40 activities genetically and biochemically. Thereby we show that the substrate-binding domain of Mia40 is both necessary and sufficient to promote protein import, indicating that trapping by Mia40 drives protein translocation. An oxidase-deficient Mia40 mutant is inviable, but can be partially rescued by the addition of the chemical oxidant diamide. Our results indicate that Mia40 predominantly serves as a trans-site receptor of mitochondria that binds incoming proteins via hydrophobic interactions thereby mediating protein translocation across the outer membrane by a ‘holding trap’ rather than a ‘folding trap’ mechanism.DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.16177.001
“…We even observed increased amounts of cytochrome b 2 , a protein that is imported into the IMS on a stop-transfer pathway ( Glick et al, 1992 ; Gärtner et al, 1995 ; Esaki et al, 1999 ) and that was not expected to be influenced by the presence of Mia40. However, it was previously proposed that in Candida albicans , the homolog of cytochrome b 2 might be imported in a Mia40-driven reaction ( Hewitt et al, 2012 ). 10.7554/eLife.16177.012 Figure 7.…”
Many proteins of the mitochondrial IMS contain conserved cysteines that are oxidized to disulfide bonds during their import. The conserved IMS protein Mia40 is essential for the oxidation and import of these proteins. Mia40 consists of two functional elements: an N-terminal cysteine-proline-cysteine motif conferring substrate oxidation, and a C-terminal hydrophobic pocket for substrate binding. In this study, we generated yeast mutants to dissect both Mia40 activities genetically and biochemically. Thereby we show that the substrate-binding domain of Mia40 is both necessary and sufficient to promote protein import, indicating that trapping by Mia40 drives protein translocation. An oxidase-deficient Mia40 mutant is inviable, but can be partially rescued by the addition of the chemical oxidant diamide. Our results indicate that Mia40 predominantly serves as a trans-site receptor of mitochondria that binds incoming proteins via hydrophobic interactions thereby mediating protein translocation across the outer membrane by a ‘holding trap’ rather than a ‘folding trap’ mechanism.DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.16177.001
“…In case of IMS proteins that have a charged mNTS, like cytochrome b2, the mNTS needs to traverse the matrix first and manipulation of the charged region of the mNTS decreases import efficiency ( Geissler et al 2000 ). Indeed in some cases, cytochrome b2 destined to the IMS lacks an NTS altogether ( Hewitt et al 2012 ).…”
The origin of protein import was a key step in the endosymbiotic acquisition of mitochondria. Though the main translocon of the mitochondrial outer membrane, TOM40, is ubiquitous among organelles of mitochondrial ancestry, the transit peptides, or N-terminal targeting sequences (NTSs), recognised by the TOM complex, are not. To better understand the nature of evolutionary conservation in mitochondrial protein import, we investigated the targeting behavior of Trichomonas vaginalis hydrogenosomal proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and vice versa. Hydrogenosomes import yeast mitochondrial proteins even in the absence of their native NTSs, but do not import yeast cytosolic proteins. Conversely, yeast mitochondria import hydrogenosomal proteins with and without their short NTSs. Conservation of an NTS-independent mitochondrial import route from excavates to opisthokonts indicates its presence in the eukaryote common ancestor. Mitochondrial protein import is known to entail electrophoresis of positively charged NTSs across the electrochemical gradient of the inner mitochondrial membrane. Our present findings indicate that mitochondrial transit peptides, which readily arise from random sequences, were initially selected as a signal for charge-dependent protein targeting specifically to the mitochondrial matrix. Evolutionary loss of the electron transport chain in hydrogenosomes and mitosomes lifted the selective constraints that maintain positive charge in NTSs, allowing first the NTS charge, and subsequently the NTS itself, to be lost. This resulted in NTS-independent matrix targeting, which is conserved across the evolutionary divide separating trichomonads and yeast, and which we propose is the ancestral state of mitochondrial protein import.
“…Isolation of mitochondria and mitochondrial protein import assays were performed as previously described ( 54 ). In order to improve detection, ImageJ was used to apply a contrast alteration to the entire phosphorimage scan, in a manner that maintains the linear relationship of the gray tones in the image.…”
The yeast Candida albicans causes human infections that have mortality rates approaching 50%. The key to developing improved therapeutics is to understand the host-pathogen interface. A critical interaction is that with macrophages: intracellular Candida triggers the NLRP3/caspase-1 inflammasome for escape through lytic host cell death, but this also activates antifungal responses. To better understand how the inflammasome response to Candida is fine-tuned, we established live-cell imaging of inflammasome activation at single-cell resolution, coupled with analysis of the fungal ERMES complex, a mitochondrial regulator that lacks human homologs. We show that ERMES mediates Candida escape via inflammasome-dependent processes, and our data suggest that inflammasome activation is controlled by the level of hyphal growth and exposure of cell wall components as a proxy for severity of danger. Our study provides the most detailed dynamic analysis of inflammasome responses to a fungal pathogen so far and establishes promising pathogen- and host-derived therapeutic strategies.
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