Metaxin 1 (MTX1)

Metaxin 1, is a protein located on the outer membrane of mitochondria, is a component of the mitochondrial protein translocation apparatus.that spans the 6-kb interval separating the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) from the thrombospondin III geneon chromosome 3. Metaxin (so named from a Greek word for 'in between') and GBA are transcribed convergently; their major polyadenylation sites are only 431 bp apart. On the other hand, metaxin and the Tsp3 gene are transcribed divergently and share a common promoter sequence. The cDNA from metaxin encodes a 317-amino acid protein which lacks both a signal sequence and a consensus sequence for N-linked glycosylation. Metaxin protein is expressed ubiquitously in tissues of the young adult mouse. No close homologs were found in the DNA or protein databases.