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Yeast Translational Activator Mss51p and Human ZMYND17 – Two Proteins with a Common Origin, but Different Functions

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Abstract

Despite its similarity to protein biosynthesis in bacteria, translation in the mitochondria of modern eukaryotes has several unique features, such as the necessity for coordination of translation of mitochondrial mRNAs encoding proteins of the electron transport chain complexes with translation of other protein components of these complexes in the cytosol. In the mitochondria of baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, this coordination is carried out by a system of translational activators that predominantly interact with the 5′-untranslated regions of mitochondrial mRNAs. No such system has been found in human mitochondria, except a single identified translational activator, TACO1. Here, we studied the role of the ZMYND17 gene, an ortholog of the yeast gene for the translational activator Mss51p, on the mitochondrial translation in human cells. Deletion of the ZMYND17 gene did not affect translation in the mitochondria, but led to the decrease in the cytochrome c oxidase activity and increase in the amount of free F1 subunit of ATP synthase. We also investigated the evolutionary history of Mss51p and ZMYND17 and suggested a possible mechanism for the divergence of functions of these orthologous proteins.

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Abbreviations

5′-UTR:

5′-untranslated region

CIV:

cytochrome c oxidase complex IV

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Acknowledgments

Scientific equipment used in this work was purchased through the Moscow State University Development program. The authors of this study are members of the Scientific and Education School “Molecular technologies of live systems and synthetic biology” at the Moscow State University.

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 18-29-07002; experimental studies) and the State Budget Project of the Moscow State University 24-2-21 (bioinformatics studies).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234, Moscow, Russia

    Maria V. Baleva, Uliyana E. Piunova, Ivan V. Chicherin, Darya G. Krasavina, Sergey A. Levitskii & Piotr A. Kamenski

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  1. Maria V. Baleva
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  2. Uliyana E. Piunova
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  3. Ivan V. Chicherin
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  5. Sergey A. Levitskii
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Correspondence to Sergey A. Levitskii.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest in financial or any other sphere. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Baleva, M.V., Piunova, U.E., Chicherin, I.V. et al. Yeast Translational Activator Mss51p and Human ZMYND17 – Two Proteins with a Common Origin, but Different Functions. Biochemistry Moscow 86, 1151–1161 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006297921090108

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