Unraveling the underlying mechanisms for dual distribution of proteins between peroxisomes and mitochondria

01/01/2019 to 31/12/2021

While most cellular proteins are synthesized on cytosolic ribosomes, over 50% of them must target to distinct cellular compartments to function. Unraveling the signals that guide protein targeting as well as the protein machineries that decode those signals has been the subject of intense investigations for decades. Knowledge on targeting to individual organelles has been well established, however, we know very little about how proteins distribute their targeting between two, or more, destinations – a process called dual targeting. This proposal will aim to shine mechanistic insight into the process of dual targeting, taking, as a model the abundant cases of dual targeting of proteins between the yeast mitochondria and peroxisomes. By uncovering the full spectrum of dual-targeted proteins, screening for the machinery that affects it and biochemically dissecting the signals that guide it, we promise to provide a new, unparalleled, understanding of this intriguing, little studied and important process.