Review of the recent progress in our understanding of mitochondrial ribosomes

What is it about?

Mitochondrial ribosomes (mitoribosomes) synthesize a number of proteins inside mitochondria, the organelles responsible for ATP production in eukaryotic cells. In this review, we describe the recent progress in high-resolution structure determination of mitoribosomes by cryo-electron microscopy and discuss what these structures revealed about mitoribosomal function.

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Why is it important?

Mitochondria play a key role in cellular metabolism due to their activity in energy conversion, and additionally are involved in biosynthetic reactions, apoptosis, aging, and also in congenital diseases, cancers, and antibiotic side effects. A better understanding of mitochondrial protein synthesis may provide avenues towards the treatment of these conditions and the development of more specific antibiotics.