Trypanosomes and the solution to a 50-year mitochondrial calcium mystery

0375990 - BC 2013 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Docampo, R. - Lukeš, Julius
Trypanosomes and the solution to a 50-year mitochondrial calcium mystery.
Trends in Parasitology. Roč. 28, č. 1 (2012), s. 31-37. ISSN 1471-4922. E-ISSN 1471-5007
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA204/09/1667
Institutional support: RVO:60077344
Keywords : BLOOD-STREAM FORMS * RAT KIDNEY MITOCHONDRIA * PROGRAMMED CELL-DEATH * CA-2+ TRANSPORT * KINETOPLAST DNA * ENDOPLASMIC-RETICULUM * ESSENTIAL COMPONENT * LIVER MITOCHONDRIA * 2ND MESSENGER * CA2+ RELEASE
Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology
Impact factor: 5.513, year: 2012
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471492211001851

The ability of mitochondria to take up Ca(2+) was discovered 50 years ago. This calcium uptake, through a mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU), is important not only for the regulation of cellular ATP concentration but also for more complex pathways such as shaping Ca(2+) signals and the activation of programmed cell death. The molecular nature of the uniporter remained unknown for decades. By a comparative study of mitochondrial protein profiles of organisms lacking or possessing MCU, such as yeast in the former case and vertebrates and trypanosomes in the latter, two groups recently found the protein that possesses all the characteristics of the MCU. These results add another success story to the already substantial contributions of trypanosomes to mammalian biochemistry.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0208511