New Insight Of Cell Theory: Blocking The Gates Of Mitochondria Can Reduce Cell Damage

Eukaryotic cells are very crucial part of cell biology. It contains thousand of proteins which are regularly distributed in a various cellular compartment with the focus of fulfilling various functions. Identifying the correct localization of such proteins, alongside their routes and the particular cell components they revitalize are essential for understanding the mechanism of the cell cycle. These also turn out to be helpful in determining certain diseases caused by cell damage.

A group of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Bettina Warscheid from the University of Freiburg and Prof. Dr. André Schneider from the University of Bern has developed the method "ImportOmics," which can be considered as one of the greatest breakthroughs in terms of this segment, according to Phys.org. The technique evolved from the group of German-Swiss scientists enables them to determine the localization of proteins that are imported via specific entry "gates" into distinct membrane-bound compartments: organelles. To understand the correct localization of proteins the team went through a process consisting a mitochondrial protein inventory of the single-cell parasite named Trypanosoma Brunei.

EurekAlert noted that the parasite consists of a single mitochondrion, surrounded with dual membranes. It contains thousands of proteins, the composition of which haven't been determined particularly. These are generally synthesized in the cellular fluid, the cytosol, and need to cross the outer membranes of the mitochondrion through its central gate, better known as archaic translocase of the mitochondrial outer membrane (ATOM).

The team exploited this gate to understand the elements of the mitochondrial proteins imported from the cytosol. They did this just by examining the cells to express reduced levels of ATOM40, the substance responsible for forming pour in the ATOM content and thereby blocking the protein import through mitochondrion. In this method, they identified a total of 1120 proteins, including 300 above which aren't really associated with mitochondrion of the parasites. This method proves to be a landmark in the sector of cell biology.