Avidin fusion protein as a tool to generate a stable translocation intermediate spanning the mitochondrial membranes.

We have designed a fusion gene encoding a chimeric mitochondrial precursor protein (avidin fusion protein) that consists of the mitochondrial presequence followed by mouse dihydrofolate reductase, a spacer segment, and streptavidin. The avidin fusion protein synthesized in vitro formed a tetramer at the avidin moiety on incubation with biotin during or after the translation reaction. The avidin fusion protein purified from the Escherichia coli overexpresser cells also formed the tetramer on dilution from 6M urea into buffer containing biotin. In in vitro import experiments with isolated yeast mitochondria, the tetramer of the avidin fusion protein became stuck across both mitochondrial membranes, with its N-terminal dihydrofolate reductase moiety in the matrix and its C-terminal avidin moiety exposed on the mitochondrial surface. Accumulation of the translocation intermediate of the fusion protein inhibited the import of a mitochondrial precursor protein, and allowed us to estimate the number of mitochondrial import sites.