摘要：Mitochondria produce cellular energy ATP by using electrochemical energy stored as a proton gradient across the mitochondrial inner membrane (IM). To generate the proton gradient, the respiratory-chain complexes in the IM pump up protons from the matrix to the inter-membrane space by coupling it to the electron transport through the respiratory chain. The efficient electron flow relies on the respiratory-chain super-complex formation, which is facilitated by the mitochondrial signature phospholipid cardiolipin (CL) [1]. CL directly interacts with the respiratory-chain complexes, mitochondrial carrier proteins including ADP/ATP carrier (AAC) etc. and stabilizes the super complexes consisting of Complexes I, III and IV in mammals and Complexes III and IV with AAC in yeast [1]. In addition, it is known that the assembly and maintenance of the TIM23 complex, a mitochondrial protein translocator in the IM, depends on the presence of CL [2].
