title: Cox17 is functional when tethered to the mitochondrial inner membrane.
abstract: Cox17 is an essential protein in the assembly of cytochrome c oxidase within the mitochondrion. Cox17 is implicated in providing copper ions for formation of CuA and CuB sites in the oxidase complex. To address whether Cox17 is functional in shuttling copper ions to the mitochondrion, Cox17 was tethered to the mitochondrial inner membrane by a fusion to the transmembrane domain of the inner membrane protein, Sco2. The copper-binding domain of Sco2 that projects into the inter-mitochondrial membrane space was replaced with Cox17. The Sco2/Cox17 fusion protein containing the mitochondrial import sequence and transmembrane segment of Sco2 is exclusively localized within the mitochondrion. The Sco2/Cox17 protein restores respiratory growth and normal cytochrome oxidase activity in cox17Delta cells. These studies suggest that the function of Cox17 is confined to the mitochondrial intermembrane space. Domain mapping of yeast Cox17 reveals that the carboxyl-terminal segment of the protein has a function within the intermembrane space that is independent of copper ion binding. The essential C-terminal function of Cox17 maps to a candidate amphipathic helix that is important for mitochondrial uptake and retention of the Cox17 protein. This motif can be spatially separated from the N-terminal copper-binding functional motif. Possible roles of the C-terminal motif are discussed.
authors: University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132, USA.
authors: Andrew B
authors: AB
authors: Maxfield
authors: Daren N
authors: DN
authors: Heaton
authors: Dennis R
authors: DR
authors: Winge
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D000079922:Copper Transport Proteins; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000378:metabolism; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010957:Plasmids / Q000378:metabolism; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C100359:COX17 protein, S cerevisiae; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins; D000079922:Copper Transport Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV