Department of Biology, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX 78539-2999, USA.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2013 May 1;5(5):a011080. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a011080.
The packaging of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) into DNA-protein assemblies called nucleoids provides an efficient segregating unit of mtDNA, coordinating mtDNA's involvement in cellular metabolism. From the early discovery of mtDNA as "extranuclear" genetic material, its organization into nucleoids and integration into both the mitochondrial organellar network and the cell at large via a variety of signal transduction pathways, mtDNA is a crucial component of the cell's homeostatic network. The mitochondrial nucleoid is composed of a set of DNA-binding core proteins involved in mtDNA maintenance and transcription, and a range of peripheral factors, which are components of signaling pathways controlling mitochondrial biogenesis, metabolism, apoptosis, and retrograde mitochondria-to-nucleus signaling. The molecular interactions of nucleoid components with the organellar network and cellular signaling pathways provide exciting clues to the dynamic integration of mtDNA into cellular metabolic homeostasis.
线粒体 DNA(mtDNA)包装成称为核小体的 DNA-蛋白质复合物,为 mtDNA 提供了一个有效的分离单位,协调 mtDNA 参与细胞代谢。从最初发现 mtDNA 作为“核外”遗传物质,到其组织成核小体并通过各种信号转导途径整合到线粒体细胞器网络和整个细胞中,mtDNA 是细胞内稳态网络的关键组成部分。线粒体核小体由一组参与 mtDNA 维持和转录的 DNA 结合核心蛋白以及一系列外围因子组成,这些因子是控制线粒体生物发生、代谢、凋亡和逆行线粒体到细胞核信号的信号通路的组成部分。核小体成分与细胞器网络和细胞信号通路的分子相互作用为 mtDNA 动态整合到细胞代谢内稳态提供了令人兴奋的线索。