Mitochondrial Ribosomal Protein L47 (MRPL47)

Mitochondrial ribosomes consist of a small 28S subunit and a large 39S subunit. 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. MRPL47 encodes a 39S subunit protein. This gene is immediately adjacent to the gene for BAF complex 53 kDa subunit protein a (BAF53a), in a tail-to-tail orientation. Two transcript variants encoding different protein isoforms have been identified. Mouse and human MRPL47 share 85.7% amino acid identity.