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Molecular and Cellular Biology, April 2001, p. 2337-2348, Vol. 21, No. 7
Institut für Biochemie und
Molekularbiologie1 and Fakultät
für Biologie,3 Universität Freiburg,
D-79104 Freiburg, Biophysik, Universität Osnabrück,
FB Biologie/Chemie, D-49034 Osnabrück,2
and Proteinstrukturlabor, Institut für Immunologie,
Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum,4
Germany
Received 15 November 2000/Returned for modification 19 December
2000/Accepted 3 January 2001
The preprotein translocase of the yeast mitochondrial outer
membrane (TOM) consists of the initial import receptors Tom70 and Tom20
and a ~400-kDa (400 K) general import pore (GIP) complex that
includes the central receptor Tom22, the channel Tom40, and the three
small Tom proteins Tom7, Tom6, and Tom5. We report that the GIP complex
is a highly stable complex with an unusual resistance to urea and
alkaline pH. Under mild conditions for mitochondrial lysis, the
receptor Tom20, but not Tom70, is quantitatively associated with the
GIP complex, forming a 500K to 600K TOM complex. A preprotein, stably
arrested in the GIP complex, is released by urea but not high salt,
indicating that ionic interactions are not essential for keeping the
preprotein in the GIP complex. Under more stringent detergent
conditions, however, Tom20 and all three small Tom proteins are
released, while the preprotein remains in the GIP complex. Moreover,
purified outer membrane vesicles devoid of translocase components of
the intermembrane space and inner membrane efficiently accumulate the
preprotein in the GIP complex. Together, Tom40 and Tom22 thus represent
the functional core unit that stably holds accumulated preproteins. The
GIP complex isolated from outer membranes exhibits characteristic TOM
channel activity with two coupled conductance states, each
corresponding to the activity of purified Tom40, suggesting that the
complex contains two simultaneously active and coupled channel pores.
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.7.2337-2348.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Protein Import Channel of the Outer Mitochondrial
Membrane: a Highly Stable Tom40-Tom22 Core Structure Differentially
Interacts with Preproteins, Small Tom Proteins, and Import
Receptors

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut
für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Universität Freiburg,
Hermann-Herder-Straße 7, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany. Phone: 49-761 203 5224. Fax: 49-761 203 5261. E-mail: pfanner{at}uni-freiburg.de.
Present address: Department of Biochemistry, La Trobe University,
3086 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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