Mitochondrial ribosomal protein L20 explained

39S ribosomal protein L20, mitochondrial is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MRPL20 gene.^[1]

Mammalian mitochondrial ribosomal proteins are encoded by nuclear genes and help in protein synthesis within the mitochondrion. Mitochondrial ribosomes (mitoribosomes) 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. This gene encodes a 39S subunit protein. A pseudogene corresponding to this gene is found on chromosome 21q.^[2]

Further reading

• Venter JC, Adams MD, Myers EW, etal . The sequence of the human genome. . Science . 291 . 5507 . 1304–51 . 2001 . 11181995 . 10.1126/science.1058040 . 2001Sci...291.1304V .
• Suzuki T, Terasaki M, Takemoto-Hori C, etal . Structural compensation for the deficit of rRNA with proteins in the mammalian mitochondrial ribosome. Systematic analysis of protein components of the large ribosomal subunit from mammalian mitochondria. . J. Biol. Chem. . 276 . 24 . 21724–36 . 2001 . 11279069 . 10.1074/jbc.M100432200 . free .
• Kenmochi N, Suzuki T, Uechi T, etal . The human mitochondrial ribosomal protein genes: mapping of 54 genes to the chromosomes and implications for human disorders. . Genomics . 77 . 1–2 . 65–70 . 2001 . 11543634 . 10.1006/geno.2001.6622 .
• Koc EC, Burkhart W, Blackburn K, etal . The large subunit of the mammalian mitochondrial ribosome. Analysis of the complement of ribosomal proteins present. . J. Biol. Chem. . 276 . 47 . 43958–69 . 2001 . 11551941 . 10.1074/jbc.M106510200 . free .
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH, etal . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences. . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Zhang Z, Gerstein M . Identification and characterization of over 100 mitochondrial ribosomal protein pseudogenes in the human genome. . Genomics . 81 . 5 . 468–80 . 2003 . 12706105 . 10.1016/S0888-7543(03)00004-1 .
• Ota T, Suzuki Y, Nishikawa T, etal . Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs. . Nat. Genet. . 36 . 1 . 40–5 . 2004 . 14702039 . 10.1038/ng1285 . free .
• Gerhard DS, Wagner L, Feingold EA, etal . The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC). . Genome Res. . 14 . 10B . 2121–7 . 2004 . 15489334 . 10.1101/gr.2596504 . 528928 .
• Stelzl U, Worm U, Lalowski M, etal . A human protein-protein interaction network: a resource for annotating the proteome. . Cell . 122 . 6 . 957–68 . 2005 . 16169070 . 10.1016/j.cell.2005.08.029 . 11858/00-001M-0000-0010-8592-0 . 8235923 . free .
• Gregory SG, Barlow KF, McLay KE, etal . The DNA sequence and biological annotation of human chromosome 1. . Nature . 441 . 7091 . 315–21 . 2006 . 16710414 . 10.1038/nature04727 . 2006Natur.441..315G . free .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Entrez Gene: MRPL20 mitochondrial ribosomal protein L20.
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: MRPL20 mitochondrial ribosomal protein L20.