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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2020 Mar 21;65:58–65. doi: 10.1016/j.ceb.2020.02.010

Figure 2: ER-mitochondria contact site proteins facilitate lipid and calcium transport and iron homeostasis.

Figure 2:

Yeast and mammalian ER-mitochondria contact sites are excellent examples of the rich variety of functions that MMCS proteins perform. In addition to tethering the ER to mitochondria in yeast, the ERMES contact site proteins are implicated in lipid exchange between the organelles as well as iron homeostasis. In mammalian cells, proteins MOSPD2 and VAPB both interact with PTPIP51 to tether mitochondria to the ER, and these tethers associate with ORP5 and ORP8 to facilitate lipid exchange. Additionally, the VAPB tether along with the newly-discovered MCS protein PDZD8 is involved in calcium transport between the ER and mitochondria.