Functional Analysis of the Oxa1p Export Machinery of Yeast Mitochondria

线粒体含有保守的蛋白质，有助于蛋白质插入到各自的膜中。先前的NSF资助使PI能够证明Oxa1促进了细胞核和线粒体编码蛋白子集的内膜插入。在这个新项目中，PI将专注于Oxa1如何介导蛋白质的膜插入。这项新研究的主要组成部分将是线粒体核糖体与Oxa1的相互作用，蛋白质的跨膜片段，以及与Oxa1蛋白相互作用的其他成分的鉴定。这项研究将使用多种生化和遗传方法。蛋白质靶向和膜插入事件的研究对生物膜如何建立和维持其特异性和特性的基本问题具有重要意义。该项目将提供本科生、研究生和博士后三个层次的研究培训。

Mitochondria contain conserved proteins that facilitate the insertion of proteins into their respective membranes. Prior NSF funding enabled the PI to demonstrate that Oxa1 facilitates the inner membrane insertion of a subset of nuclear- and mitochondrially-encoded proteins. In this new project the PI will focus on how Oxa1 mediates membrane insertion of proteins. Major components of this new study will be the interaction of mitochondrial ribosomes with Oxa1, transmembrane segments of the protein, and identification of other components that interact with the Oxa1 protein. The study will use a variety of biochemical and genetic approaches. Studies of protein targeting and membrane insertion events have important implications for the fundamental question of how biological membranes establish and maintain their specificity and identity. The project will provide research training at three levels: undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral.