Localized translation on the mitochondrial surface

Abstract The proteins that are delivered to different organelles are synthesized on cytosolic ribosomes. Many of the ribosomes making these proteins are located in close proximity to the destination organelle. Except for the textbook example of co-translational protein targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum, the mechanisms and biological roles of such local translation remain unknown. On the mitochondrial surface, several conceptually new mechanisms were recently suggested to be in play.