Mitochondrial import receptor subunit TOM70

TOMM70 (mitochondrial import receptor subunit TOM70) is an outer mitochondrial membrane protein that functions as a receptor for the TOM complex translocase (UniProt: O94826). It recognizes and mediates translocation of mitochondrial preproteins from the cytosol into mitochondria in a chaperone-dependent manner, and also participates in antiviral signaling by promoting TBK1 and IRF3 activation in response to viral infection (UniProt: O94826).

TOMM70 operates at the mitochondrial import machinery interface, which is critical for maintaining mitochondrial protein homeostasis and cellular energy metabolism. The protein localizes to the outer mitochondrial membrane and interacts with molecular chaperones to facilitate preprotein translocation (UniProt: O94826).

TOMM70 is associated with Alzheimer's Disease based on proteomics profiling of post-mortem AD brain tissue. However, evidence for its dysregulation is ambiguous: quantification across four subcellular fractions (P2, P3, S2, S3) in human AD brain versus age-matched controls yielded a mean log2 fold-change of 0.0591, indicating minimal net change (Chaparral AD proteomics). This near-zero effect suggests TOMM70 protein levels are largely preserved in AD pathology, despite potential compartmentalization shifts across fractions.