Both nuclear genes and genes in organelles called mitochondria are involved in the assembly of the cellular energy-producing machinery. RNA-translation programs that coordinate the two systems have now been identified.
Although the reprogramming of cytoplasmic translation during stress is well documented9, how mitochondrial translation is adjusted in response to stress and altered metabolic needs is largely unknown. The expression of individual mitochondrial mRNAs is controlled by translational activators10 — a diverse family of nuclear-encoded RNA-binding proteins with ill-defined molecular functions. Future challenges therefore include unravelling the exact molecular functions of these translational activators and how they cooperate with other factors involved in translation initiation, to explain how metabolic cues modulate protein synthesis in mitochondria. An equally exciting challenge will be to extend this research from yeast to more-complex eukaryotic cells, such as those of mammals.
Common Design 