Cryo-EM tagged posts

How a Cell’s Mitochondria make their Own Protein Factories

mitoribosomes
A subunit of a yeast mitoribosome (pink) compared to that of a human mitoribosome (purple). Although different, the two developing subunits have an assembly factor (green) in common. Credit: Sebastian Klinge

The findings shed a rare light on mitoribosomes, the unique ribosomes found within the cell’s mitochondria. Ribosomes, the tiny protein-producing factories within cells, are ubiquitous and look largely identical across the tree of life. Those that keep bacteria chugging along are, structurally, not much different from the ribosomes churning out proteins in our own human cells.

But even two organisms with similar ribosomes may display significant structural differences in the RNA and protein components of their mitoribosomes...

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