Disease relevance of TOMM34

• Identification of TOMM34, which shows elevated expression in the majority of human colon cancers, as a novel drug target [1].
• Among the genes up-regulated frequently in colorectal tumors, we here focused on TOMM34 (34 kDa-translocase of the outer mitochondrial membrane) [1].

High impact information on TOMM34

• Transfection of colon cancer HCT116 cells with short-interfering RNA (siRNA) specific to TOMM34 effectively suppressed its expression and drastically inhibited cell growth [1].
• Tom34 formed a approximately 400-kDa complex with them in the cytosol [2].
• The tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) motif region of Tom34 (residue 201-256) was responsible for binding to the other proteins [2].
• Tom34 appears not to be a member of the mitochondrial outer membrane translocase family but might function as a chaperone-like protein during protein translocation [2].
• Tom34 unlike Tom20 does not interact with the leader sequences of mitochondrial precursor proteins [3].

Anatomical context of TOMM34

• The in vitro import of preproteins into isolated rat mitochondria was strongly inhibited by DeltahTom34 which lacks the NH2-terminal hydrophobic region of human Tom34 (hTom34) [4].
• When Tom34-green fluorescence protein was transfected to HeLa cells it was observed that Tom34 was found through out the cell [3].

Associations of TOMM34 with chemical compounds

• Antibodies against Tom34 interacted only when the mature portion of aldehyde dehydrogenase was present [3].

Other interactions of TOMM34

• RNA blot and immunoblot analyses showed that the expression of Tom34 varies among tissues and differs from that of the core translocase component Tom20 [4].

References