Single molecule tracking fluorescence microscopy in mitochondria reveals highly dynamic but confined movement of Tom40

Sci Rep. 2011:1:195. doi: 10.1038/srep00195. Epub 2011 Dec 14.

Abstract

Tom40 is an integral protein of the mitochondrial outer membrane, which as the central component of the Translocase of the Outer Membrane (TOM) complex forms a channel for protein import. We characterize the diffusion properties of individual Tom40 molecules fused to the photoconvertable fluorescent protein Dendra2 with millisecond temporal resolution. By imaging individual Tom40 molecules in intact isolated yeast mitochondria using photoactivated localization microscopy with sub-diffraction limited spatial precision, we demonstrate that Tom40 movement in the outer mitochondrial membrane is highly dynamic but confined in nature, suggesting anchoring of the TOM complex as a whole.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis
  • Biological Transport
  • Diffusion
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / metabolism
  • Lasers
  • Light
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence / methods*
  • Mitochondria / metabolism*
  • Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism*
  • Oxygen / chemistry
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / metabolism*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / metabolism*
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Tom40 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Oxygen