GoKawiilMootha team maps mitochondrial proteins across six eukaryotes, including malaria parasite
Researchers led by Vamsi Mootha at Howard Hughes Medical Institute profiled mitochondrial proteins in five single-celled parasites and one plant, publishing nine papers in Cell, Cell Press Blue, Molecular Cell and Current Biology on October 1. The catalogues identified dozens of proteins absent in humans but shared among disease-causing parasites, including those behind malaria, sleeping sickness and giardiasis.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
Most prior knowledge of mitochondria came from human and yeast studies, so cataloguing proteins across a wider span of the eukaryotic tree could reveal molecular pathways unique to parasites that might be exploited for new drugs, according to the researchers. The work also reignites debate among scientists over how mitochondria originated, since the newly found variation challenges assumptions drawn from a narrow set of model organisms.
- Nine papers published October 1 mapped mitochondrial proteins in five parasites and one plant
- Dozens of parasite-specific proteins absent in humans were identified, potentially aiding treatments for malaria and sleeping sickness
- The findings reopen scientific debate over the evolutionary origin of mitochondria
Source: nature.com — Naddaf, 2026-10-16
Published there as: “Unprecedented atlas explores mitochondria across the tree of life”
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