title: The direct route: a simplified pathway for protein import into the mitochondrion of trypanosomes.
abstract: Trypanosoma brucei is a unicellular eukaryote that causes the deadly human African trypanosomiasis ('sleeping sickness') in humans. The parasite has a complicated lifestyle, it developmentally changes aspects of its mitochondrial function as it alternates from forms in the tsetse fly to forms adapted for life in the human bloodstream. The single mitochondrion found in each trypanosome has to be duplicated precisely in each round of the cell cycle in order for parasites to replicate, and this depends on the import of proteins from the cytosol. Here we review what is known about the mitochondrial protein import pathway in T. brucei, how it compares with the process in humans, and how the distinguishing features seen in T. brucei and humans promise new understanding of the mitochondrial protein import process in all eukaryotes.
authors: Department of Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland. andre.schneider@unifr.ch
authors: André
authors: A
authors: Schneider
authors: Dejan
authors: D
authors: Bursać
authors: Trevor
authors: T
authors: Lithgow
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001693:Biological Transport, Active; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D033681:Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D033681:Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins