Progress in Protein Translocation across
Mitochondrial Membrane
Yang Fu-Yu
( National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules,Institute of Biophysics,the
Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China )
Abstract About 98% of the 1 000 or so mitochondrial
proteins are encoded in the nucleus and synthesized on cytosolic ribosomes as
precursors,which are then imported into mitochondria.In the present article the
import machinery and pathway of mitochondrial proteins located in the matrix or
inner membrane are described.Apocytochrome c,precursor of cytochrome c does not
possess a cleavable N-terminal presequence and no proteinaceous component
responsible for its import has ever been identified.A quite unique
translocation pathway of apocytochrome c is also reviewed.
Key Words Mitochondria；protein translocation；import pathway；molecular chaperones
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