The majority of mitochondrial proteins are nuclear-encoded and need to be transported into the mitochondria, including the proteins in the outer mitochondrial membrane. For β-barrel proteins, the preproteins are initially recognized and imported by the TOM complex, then shuttled to the SAM complex via small Tim proteins. For ⍺-helical proteins, some preproteins are recognized by the TOM complex and imported into the membrane by the MIM complex.
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