bims-tricox 2024-10-13 papers

Issue of 2024–10–13
two papers selected by
Yash Verma, University of Zurich

Nat Commun. 2024 Oct 08. 15(1): 8666

Ribosomes hibernate on mitochondria during cellular stress.

Olivier Gemin, Maciej Gluc, Higor Rosa, Michael Purdy, Moritz Niemann, Yelena Peskova, Simone Mattei, Ahmad Jomaa.

Cell survival under nutrient-deprived conditions relies on cells' ability to adapt their organelles and rewire their metabolic pathways. In yeast, glucose depletion induces a stress response mediated by mitochondrial fragmentation and sequestration of cytosolic ribosomes on mitochondria. This cellular adaptation promotes survival under harsh environmental conditions; however, the underlying mechanism of this response remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that upon glucose depletion protein synthesis is halted. Cryo-electron microscopy structure of the ribosomes show that they are devoid of both tRNA and mRNA, and a subset of the particles depicted a conformational change in rRNA H69 that could prevent tRNA binding. Our in situ structural analyses reveal that the hibernating ribosomes tether to fragmented mitochondria and establish eukaryotic-specific, higher-order storage structures by assembling into oligomeric arrays on the mitochondrial surface. Notably, we show that hibernating ribosomes exclusively bind to the outer mitochondrial membrane via the small ribosomal subunit during cellular stress. We identify the ribosomal protein Cpc2/RACK1 as the molecule mediating ribosomal tethering to mitochondria. This study unveils the molecular mechanism connecting mitochondrial stress with the shutdown of protein synthesis and broadens our understanding of cellular responses to nutrient scarcity and cell quiescence.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52911-4

RNA Biol. 2024 Jan;21(1): 28-39

Mitochondrial RNA maturation.

Zofia M Chrzanowska-Lightowlers, Robert N Lightowlers.

The vast majority of oxygen-utilizing eukaryotes need to express their own mitochondrial genome, mtDNA, to survive. In comparison to size of their nuclear genome, mtDNA is minimal, even in the most exceptional examples. Having evolved from bacteria in an endosymbiotic event, it might be expected that the process of mtDNA expression would be relatively simple. The aim of this short review is to illustrate just how wrong this assumption is. The production of functional mitochondrial RNA across species evolved in many directions. Organelles use a dizzying array of RNA processing, modifying, editing, splicing and maturation events that largely require the import of nuclear-encoded proteins from the cytosol. These processes are sometimes driven by the unusual behaviour of the mitochondrial genome from which the RNA is originally transcribed, but in many examples the complex processes that are essential for the production of functional RNA in the organelle, are fascinating and bewildering.

Keywords: Mitochondrial; maturation; messenger RNA; modifications; processing; translation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15476286.2024.2414157