Curr Genet. 2019;65(4):899-903

Curr Genet.                 online article

Mitochondria are surrounded by two membranes: the outer and inner membrane. The voltage-dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC), also termed porin in baker´s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, allows passage of small molecules like metabolites across the outer membrane. Different carrier proteins transport metabolites across the inner membrane. Two recent studies uncover a dual role of yeast porin in protein transport. On the one side, porin promotes as coupling factor the import of carrier proteins into the inner membrane. On the other side, porin regulates the assembly of the translocase of the mitochondrial outer membrane (TOM complex). Thus, porin links protein import to metabolite transport in mitochondria.