Discovering, counting, cataloguing proteins

Imagine a complex technical system, like a car engine. Unbelievable to have hundreds of parts you don't know the function or exact place of. Within eukaryotic cells, however, still many hundreds of proteins have unknown functions and localisation. In a study that is part of Marcel Morgenstern's PhD thesis 82 new mitochondrial proteins were discovered by quantitative mass spectrometry and biochemical methods in the eukaryotic model organism baker's yeast. For an additional 119 proteins their mitochonrial localisation had been ambiguous. Mitochondria are small organelles within the cell that have about the size of a bacterium and are known as the cell's power plant. Furthermore, they fulfill numerous vital processes and are associated with many human diseases caused by cellular defects. The study was conducted together with a team of scientists from the universities of Freiburg, Homburg, and Rehovot (Israel) and was published in the current issue of Cell Reports.

Schematic illustration of quantitative measurements of mitochondrial building blocks using mass spectrometry. Artwork: Christian D. Peikert