Regulatory Roles of Mitochondrial Transcription Termination Factor (MTERF) Family Proteins in Mitochondrial Gene Expression
XIONG Wei1),2),3)*, YU Min 3), ZUO Shao-Yuan 1),2)
1) Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,Preclinical College, Dali University, Dali 671000, Yunnan, China; 2) Key Laboratory of Entomological Biopharmaceutical R&D of Yunnan Province, Dali 671000, Yunnan,China;3) Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
Mitochondrial transcription termination factors (MTERFs) are a group of highly conserved mtDNA-binding monomeric proteins that are encoded by nuclear genes. MTERFs are widely found in metazoans and plants. In recent years, a lot of remarkable progress about the regulatory roles of MTERFs in mitochondrial gene expression has been made. These research achievements are very significant for elucidating expression and regulation of mitochondrial genome, and for studying human mitochondrial diseases. This article summarized the characteristics of four MTERF family members and their different regulation roles in mtDNA replication, transcription, and translation. The regulatory mechanism of each MTERF family member in mitochondrial gene expression and their application prospects for research of human mitochondrial diseases was also discussed.
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