| Modification Notes |
Mitochondria are the primary generators of ATP, which is the cellular chemical source of energy. Defects in the mitochondria mainly manifest as neurological disorders, such as Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, Kearns-Sayre syndrome and mitochondrial encephalopathy lactic acidosis (MELA). Mitochondria are composed of regions that carry out specialized functions and are as follows: outer membrane, inner membrane space, inner membrane, cristae and matrix. Inner membrane mitochondrial proteins are responsible for the transport of metabolites across the mitochondrial membrane and therefore maintain optimal concentrations of solutes within the organelle. MCARTs (mitochondrial carrier triple repeat protein) are mitochondrial multipass inner membrane proteins that contain three solcar repeats, which are typical of substrate carrier proteins involved in energy transfer. |