title: Finding the right organelle. Targeting signals in mitochondrial outer-membrane proteins.
abstract: The mitochondrial outer membrane contains a diverse set of proteins that includes enzymes, components of the preprotein translocation machinery, pore-forming proteins, regulators of programmed cell death, and those that control the morphology of the organelle. All these proteins, like the vast majority of mitochondrial proteins, are encoded in the nucleus, so they are synthesized in the cytosol and contain signals that are essential for their subsequent import into mitochondria. This review summarizes our current knowledge of the signals that target mitochondrial outer-membrane proteins to their correct intracellular location. In addition, the mechanisms by which these signals are decoded by the mitochondria are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physiologische Chemie der Universität München, Butenandtstrasse 5, D-81377 Munich, Germany. rapaport@bio.med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Doron
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rapaport
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D021381:Protein Transport; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals