Title: Physical mechanisms of regulating mitochondrial protein transport
For living cells to maintain spatial organization and functional capacity, they must target and distribute proteins to cellular locations. This talk will focus on the physics of protein localization in mitochondria, an organelle that forms dynamic spatial networks that can span much of the cell volume. I will describe how protein translation and cellular geometry combine to push localization of mRNA to mitochondria out of equilibrium. The nature of mRNA association to mitochondria, combined with small mRNA numbers, also leads to distinctions in mitochondrial protein concentration fluctuations. Mitochondria form extended spatial networks, with long tubes forming branches and loops that facilitate protein transport. I will describe how spatial network characteristics control the diffusive search time to a target. Overall, nonequilibrium conditions, geometry, and diffusion combine to regulate protein localization to mitochondria. Institution: Ryerson University
