PLK1 (polo like kinase 1) inhibits MTOR complex 1 and promotes autophagy.

Mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (MTORC1) and polo like kinase 1 (PLK1) are major drivers of cancer cell growth and proliferation, and inhibitors of both protein kinases are currently being investigated in clinical studies. To date, MTORC1's and PLK1's functions are mostly studied separately, and reports on their mutual crosstalk are scarce. Here, we identify PLK1 as a physical MTORC1 interactor in human cancer cells.

Mitochondrial protein import receptors in Kinetoplastids reveal convergent evolution over large phylogenetic distances.

Mitochondrial protein import is essential for all eukaryotes and mediated by hetero-oligomeric protein translocases thought to be conserved within all eukaryotes. We have identified and analysed the function and architecture of the non-conventional outer membrane (OM) protein translocase in the early diverging eukaryote Trypanosoma brucei. It consists of six subunits that show no obvious homology to translocase components of other species.

Mitochondria. Cell cycle-dependent regulation of mitochondrial preprotein translocase.

Mitochondria play central roles in cellular energy conversion, metabolism, and apoptosis. Mitochondria import more than 1000 different proteins from the cytosol. It is unknown if the mitochondrial protein import machinery is connected to the cell division cycle.

Glucose-induced regulation of protein import receptor Tom22 by cytosolic and mitochondria-bound kinases.

Most mitochondrial proteins are imported by the translocase of the outer mitochondrial membrane (TOM). Tom22 functions as central receptor and transfers preproteins to the import pore. Casein kinase 2 (CK2) constitutively phosphorylates the cytosolic precursor of Tom22 at Ser44 and Ser46 and, thus, promotes its import.

From inventory to functional mechanisms: regulation of the mitochondrial protein import machinery by phosphorylation.

For decades, the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in the mitochondrial matrix was considered as a rare example of how protein kinases and phosphatases can regulate important functions within this organelle. During the last decade, several proteomic studies revealed that a large fraction of mitochondrial proteins are indeed phosphorylated. A surprisingly high number of phosphorylation sites was found at the preprotein import machinery, TOM, in the outer membrane that provides the central protein import gate for most mitochondrial precursors synthesized in the cytosol.

Intermembrane space proteome of yeast mitochondria.

The intermembrane space (IMS) represents the smallest subcompartment of mitochondria. Nevertheless, it plays important roles in the transport and modification of proteins, lipids, and metal ions and in the regulation and assembly of the respiratory chain complexes. Moreover, it is involved in many redox processes and coordinates key steps in programmed cell death.

Signaling at the gate: phosphorylation of the mitochondrial protein import machinery.

Protein import into mitochondria is an essential process in every eukaryotic organism. While most of the components of the import machinery have been identified and are mechanistically quite well understood, regulation of this process had been a largely neglected area of research in the past. Recently, we demonstrated for the first time that the translocase of the outer mitochondrial membrane (TOM) is phosphorylated and regulated by several cytosolic protein kinases.