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Peroxisomal matrix protein import: the transient pore model

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 6, pages 738–742 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Peroxisomes import folded, even oligomeric, proteins, which distinguishes the peroxisomal translocation machinery from the well-characterized translocons of other organelles. How proteins are transported across the peroxisomal membrane is unclear. Here, we propose a mechanistic model that conceptually divides the import process into three consecutive steps: the formation of a translocation pore by the import receptor, the ubiquitylation of the import receptors, and pore disassembly/receptor recycling.

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Figure 1: Membrane protein complexes of the peroxisomal protein-import machinery.
Figure 2: The transient pore model.

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Acknowledgements

We thank W.-H. Kunau and H. Rottensteiner for critically reading this manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge M. Veenhuis for kindly sharing electron micrographs. Work in our laboratories is supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the European Union and the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie. We apologize to the many researchers whose work we could not cite due to space limitations.

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  1. the Institute for Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, 44780, Germany

    Ralf Erdmann & Wolfgang Schliebs

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Correspondence to Ralf Erdmann.

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DATABASES

Swiss-Prot

Pex1

Pex2

Pex5

Pex6

Pex7

Pex8

Pex10

Pex12

Pex13

Pex14

Pex17

Pex22

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Erdmann, R., Schliebs, W. Peroxisomal matrix protein import: the transient pore model. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 6, 738–742 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm1710

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