Mitochondrial Ribosomal Protein L24 (MRPL24)

Mammalian mitochondrial ribosomal proteins are encoded by nuclear genes and help in protein synthesis within the mitochondrion. They have an estimated 75% protein to rRNA composition compared to prokaryotic ribosomes, where this ratio is reversed. Another difference between mammalian mitoribosomes and prokaryotic ribosomes is that the latter contain a 5S rRNA. Among different species, the proteins comprising the mitoribosome differ greatly in sequence, and sometimes in biochemical properties, which prevents easy recognition by sequence homology. MRPL24 encodes a 39S subunit protein which is more than twice the size of its E.coli counterpart (EcoL24). Sequence analysis identified two transcript variants that encode the same protein.