The Tim54p–Tim22p Complex Mediates Insertion of Proteins into the Mitochondrial Inner Membrane

An abundant integral membrane protein, Hmp35, has been isolated from hydrogenosomes of Trichomonas vaginalis. This protein has no known homologue and exists as a stable 300-kDa complex, termed HMP35, in membranes of the hydrogenosome. By using blue native gel electrophoresis, we found the HMP35 complex to be stable in 2 M NaCl and up to 5 M urea. The endogenous Hmp35 protein was largely protease-resistant. The protein has a predominantly ␤-sheet structure and predicted transmembrane domains that may form a pore. Interestingly, the protein has a high number of cysteine residues, some of which are arranged in motifs that resemble the RING finger, suggesting that they could be coordinating zinc or another divalent cation. Our data show that Hmp35 forms one intramolecular but no intermolecular disulfide bonds. We have isolated the HMP35 complex by expressing a His-tagged Hmp35 protein in vivo followed by purification with nickel-agarose beads. The purified 300-kDa complex consists of mostly Hmp35 with lesser amounts of 12-, 25-27-, and 32-kDa proteins. The stoichiometry of proteins in the complex indicates that Hmp35 exists as an oligomer. Hmp35 can be targeted heterologously into yeast mitochondria, despite the lack of homology with any yeast protein, demonstrating the compatibility of mitochondrial and hydrogenosomal protein translocation machineries.Trichomonas vaginalis is a deep-branching protist that lacks archetypal eukaryotic "aerobic" organelles, specifically mitochondria and peroxisomes. This microaerophilic human-infective parasite carries out fermentative carbohydrate metabolism within hydrogenosomes. Hydrogenosomes are bounded by double membranes and produce ATP by substrate level phosphorylation (1). Hydrogenosomes are also found in certain chytrids, ciliates, and fungi, in lineages that are phylogenetically distant to the Parabasalian lineage to which trichomonads belong (1-4). Currently, several lines of evidence support a common endosymbiotic ancestry for hydrogenosomes and mitochondria, despite their distinct metabolic pathways (3,5,6). Although the origin of hydrogenosomes within ciliate and fungi lineages is debated, these lineages branch with mitochondria-containing groups and the hydrogenosomes confined therein exhibit strong similarity to ciliate and fungal mitochondria (7,8).Trichomonad hydrogenosomes, on the other hand, are markedly less similar to mitochondria. These organelles lack a genome (9) which would have provided a means to investigate their endosymbiotic origin as has been elegantly and convincingly done for mitochondria (10). In lieu of this, we and others have attempted to define the relationship between trichomonad hydrogenosomes and mitochondria by examining the origin of their chaperonins, metabolic enzymes, and membrane proteins. Chaperonin genes, specifically heat shock protein (Hsp) 1 70, cpn60,, and the IscS enzyme, involved in FeS cluster formation (15) appear to have a mitochondrial origin. However, analyses of metabolic enzymes such as hydrogenase (16,17), which is typi...

Section: Hmp35 Protein Can Be Expressed In Yeast and Targeted To Mitomentioning

confidence: 99%

Trichomonas vaginalis Hmp35, a Putative Pore-forming Hydrogenosomal Membrane Protein, Can Form a Complex in Yeast Mitochondria

Dyall¹,

Lester

Schneider

et al. 2003

“…The TIM17-23 translocase, along with the membrane-bound TIM44 and the matrix chaperone mt-Hsp70 (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21), mediate the translocation across the inner membrane into the matrix. Alternatively, import of several inner membrane proteins, such as the ADP/ATP carrier and components of the TIM machinery itself, is mediated by the TIM22-54 translocase (22)(23)(24).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The DNA Helicase, Hmi1p, Is Transported into Mitochondria by a C-terminal Cleavable Targeting Signal

Lee

Sedman

Neupert

et al. 1999

105

We have identified a novel mitochondrial targeting signal in the precursor of the DNA helicase Hmi1p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that is located at the C terminus of the protein. Similar to classical N-terminal presequences, this C-terminal targeting signal consists of a stretch of positively charged amino acids that has the potential to form an amphipathic ␣-helix. Deletion of the C-terminal 36 amino acids of helicase resulted in loss of import into mitochondria, while deletion of the N-terminal 40 amino acids had no effect. When C-terminal regions of the helicase were placed at the C terminus of a passenger protein, dihydrofolate reductase, the resulting fusion proteins were directed into the mitochondrial matrix, and the C-terminal region of helicase became proteolytically processed. Import of helicase occurs in a C-to N-terminal direction; it requires a membrane potential and the TIM17-23 translocase together with mitochondrial Hsp70. Helicase is the only mitochondrial matrix protein identified thus far with a cleavable targeting signal at its C terminus.

“…However, proteins that lack a presequence and use internal targeting signals instead, like many carrier proteins of the inner membrane, undergo a distinct import pathway (7)(8)(9)(10). This involves not only the TOM complex in the outer membrane (7,11) but the insertion-specific TIM22 complex in the inner membrane (8,(12)(13)(14)(15). Quite uniquely, the carrier import pathway also depends on the function of two soluble 70-kDa complexes made of Tim9 and Tim10 (the TIM10 complex) (16 -20) or Tim8 and Tim13 (21,22).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Juxtaposition of the Two Distal CX3C Motifs via Intrachain Disulfide Bonding Is Essential for the Folding of Tim10

Allen

Thornton

et al. 2003

The TIM10 complex, composed of the homologous proteins Tim10 and Tim9, chaperones hydrophobic proteins inserted at the mitochondrial inner membrane. A salient feature of the TIM10 complex subunits is their conserved "twin CX3C" motif. Systematic mutational analysis of all cysteines of Tim10 showed that their underlying molecular defect is impaired folding (demonstrated by circular dichroism, aberrant homo-oligomer formation, and thiol trapping assays). As a result of defective folding, clear functional consequences were manifested in (i) complex formation with Tim9, (ii) chaperone activity, and (iii) import into tim9ts mitochondria lacking both endogenous Tim9 and Tim10. The organization of the four cysteines in intrachain disulfides was determined by trypsin digestion and mass spectrometry. The two distal CX3C motifs are juxtaposed in the folded structure and disulfide-bonded to each other rather than within each other, with an inner cysteine pair connecting Cys 44 with Cys 61 and an outer pair between Cys 40 and Cys 65 . These cysteine pairs are not equally important for folding and assembly; mutations of the inner Cys are severely affected and form wrong, nonnative disulfides, in contrast to mutations of the outer Cys that can still maintain the native inner disulfide pair and display weaker functional defects. Taken together these data reveal this specific intramolecular disulfide bonding as the crucial mechanism for Tim10 folding and show that the inner cysteine pair has a more prominent role in this process.