Suppressor Of Var-1,3-Like Protein 1 (SUPV3L1)

Inactivation of the putative RNA helicase Suv3 in yeast causes respiratory incompetence. By searching an EST database and by screening a HeLa cell cDNA library, Dmochowska et al. (1999) obtained a cDNA encoding SUPV3L1, a deduced 786-amino acid protein that shares homology with Suv3. Helical wheel analysis predicted that SUPV3L1 contains a conserved mitochondrial leader sequence. Northern blot analysis detected an approximately 2.6-kb SUPV3L1 transcript in all tissues tested, with highest expression relative to actin in liver, pancreas, and kidney, and lowest expression in lung.SUPV3L1 was associated with native purified HeLa cell nucleoids. Using a formaldehyde crosslinking technique, they found that SUPV3L1 copurified with mtDNA and was a core nucleoid protein.