Structure-function relationships in the mitochondrial carrier family

TL;DRAbstract

The intensive exchange of metabolites between the cytosol and matrix space of mitochondria requires a number of carriers which catalyze this transport. These carriers must have emerged with the symbiosis of the predecessor prokaryotes in the eukaryotic cell. Therefore, the evolutionary position is distinct from bacterial carriers or from plasma membrane carriers of the eukaryotes. In fact, the structures of these carriers show no similarity to any of the other known carriers. Since most other components of the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation system originate from the ancestor prokaryote only the acquired metabolite carriers are uniquely characteristic for mitochondria. During the last 12 years it has become clear that these mitochondrial transport systems are evolutionarily related and belong to a protein family. Addition of further structural genes of still unknown proteins even in non-mitochondrial organelles justified elevating the mitochondrial carrier family to a super fam

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