Data from: Spatial analysis of mitochondrial gene expression reveals dynamic translation hubs and remodeling in stress

Protein- and RNA-rich bodies contribute to the spatial organization of
gene expression in the cell and are also sites of quality control critical
to cell fitness. In most eukaryotes, mitochondria harbor their own genome,
and all steps of mitochondrial gene expression co-occur within a single
compartment – the matrix. Here, we report that processed mitochondrial
RNAs are consolidated into micron-scale translation hubs distal to
mitochondrial DNA transcription and RNA processing sites in human cells.
We find that, during stress, mitochondrial messenger and ribosomal RNA is
sequestered in mesoscale bodies containing mitoribosome components,
concurrent with suppression of active translation. Stress bodies are
triggered by proteotoxic stress downstream of double-stranded RNA
accumulation in cells lacking unwinding activity of the highly conserved
helicase SUPV3L1/SUV3. We propose that the spatial organization of nascent
polypeptide synthesis into discrete domains serves to throttle the flow of
genetic information to support recovery of mitochondrial quality control.