An Isoprene Lipid-Binding Protein Promotes Eukaryotic Coenzyme Q Biosynthesis.

The biosynthesis of coenzyme Q presents a paradigm for how cells surmount hydrophobic barriers in lipid biology. In eukaryotes, CoQ precursors-among nature's most hydrophobic molecules-must somehow be presented to a series of enzymes peripherally associated with the mitochondrial inner membrane. Here, we reveal that this process relies on custom lipid-binding properties of COQ9.