F.-U. Hartl, W. Neupert, "Protein sorting to mitochondria: evolutionary conservations of folding and assembly," Science, 247:930-38, 1990.

Franz-Ulrich Hartl (University of Munich, Germany): "In this paper we summarize recent progress in understanding the principles of intracellular protein sorting to mitochondria. These `cells' within cells represent an attractive model system for studies of the membrane translocation and assembly of proteins. Mitochondria are derived from endosymbiotic bacteria. During evolution they lost their autonomy and, hence, have to import most proteins from the cytosol. However, mitochondria have preserved a great deal of their prokaryotic heritage. This is reflected in the pathways of protein sorting within the organelles. For example, proteins of the space between the two mitochondrial membranes reach their destination by a bacterial type export from the matrix space. But even more surprising were the mechanisms of protein folding we discovered in mitochondria. Together with Arthur Horwich's group [Yale University] we have...

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