Sorting And Assembly Machinery Component 50 Homolog (SAMM50)

SAMM50 is a component of the sorting and assembly machinery (SAM) complex of the outer mitochondrial membrane. The SAM complex has a role in integrating beta-barrel proteins into the outer mitochondrial membrane.Humphries et al. (2005) found that continued expression of fluorescence-tagged human SAM50 in COS-7 cells impaired mitochondrial morphology and shortened cellular life span, indicating that the fusion protein was toxic. SAM50 was associated with a 200-kD protein complex that was distinct from the 380-kD translocase of the outer mitochondrial membrane (TOM) complex. RNA interference against SAM50 in human embryonic kidney cells reduced assembly of TOM40 (TOMM40), an essential component of the TOM complex involved in translocation and sorting of proteins into mitochondria.