Mitochondrial protein complexes

Mitochondria are metabolic organelles of eukaryotic cells, widely known as the “powerhouses of cells” due to their involvement in energy production in the form of ATP. In addition to that, mitochondria are central to the regulation of cellular homeostasis, playing a role in stress response and cell death (apoptosis) mechanisms. Mitochondrial function is therefore crucial to human health: its impairment has severe consequences particularly for organs where the energetic demand is high, such as the heart, muscles and the brain and is strongly related to ageing. Mitochondrial processes and architecture are largely maintained by protein complexes embedded in the two membranes that define the organelle and the goal of the group is to elucidate their function via the study of their structures, coupled to biochemical characterization and in vivo analysis in cells.

Related Publications

• Vercellino I, Sazanov L. The assembly, regulation and function of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2022;23(2):141-161. doi:10.1038/s41580-021-00415-0
• Vercellino I, Sazanov L. Structure and assembly of the mammalian mitochondrial supercomplex CIII₂CIV. Nature. 2021;598:364-367. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03927-z
• Qi C, Di Minin G, Vercellino I, Wutz A, Korkhov VM. Structural basis of sterol recognition by human hedgehog receptor PTCH1. Sci Adv. 2019;5(9):eeaw6490. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaw6490
• Mehta V, Khanppnavar B, Schuster D, Kantarci I, Vercellino I, Kosturanova A, Iype T, Stefanic S, Picotti P, Korkhov VM. Structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Cya, an evolutionary ancestor of the mammalian membrane adenylyl cyclases. Elife. 2022;11:e77032. doi:10.7554/eLife.77032
• Zhao Z*, Vercellino I*, Knoppová J*, Sobotka R, Murray JW, Nixon PJ, Sazanov LA, Komenda J. The Ycf48 accessory factor occupies the site of the oxygen-evolving manganese cluster during photosystem II biogenesis. bioRxiv. 2022. doi:10.1101/2022.10.16.512410