Mitochondrial Ribosomal Protein L39 (MRPL39)

Mammalian mitochondrial ribosomal proteins are encoded by nuclear genes and help in protein synthesis within the mitochondrion. Mitochondrial ribosomes consist of a small 28S subunit and a large 39S subunit. 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. MRPL39 encodes a 39S subunit protein. Two transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been described. A pseudogene corresponding to this gene is found on chromosome 5q.MRPL39 is 1 of more than 70 protein components of mitochondrial ribosomes that are encoded by the nuclear genome.