Mitochondrial Ribosomal Protein L45 (MRPL45)

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.

MRPL45 encodes a 39S subunit protein. Pseudogenes corresponding to this gene are found on chromosomes 2p and 17q.Mouse and human MRPL45 share 79.4% amino acid identity.