Respiratory supercomplexes enhance electron transport by decreasing cytochrome c diffusion distance.

ABSTRACT: Respiratory chains are crucial for cellular energy conversion and consist of multi-subunit complexes that can assemble into supercomplexes. These structures have been intensively characterized in various organisms, but their physiological roles remain unclear. Here, we elucidate their function by leveraging a high-resolution structural model of yeast respiratory supercomplexes that allowed us to inhibit supercomplex formation by mutation of key residues in the interaction interface. Analyses of a mutant defective in supercomplex formation, which still contains fully functional individual complexes, show that the lack of supercomplex assembly delays the diffusion of cytochrome c between the separated complexes, thus reducing electron transfer efficiency. Consequently, competitive cellular f

SUBMITTER: Berndtsson J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7726804 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature