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AAT Bioquest

What are the proteins that are involved in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) transcription?

Posted June 6, 2024


Answer

The start of transcription relies on POLRMT joining with mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) and mitochondrial transcription factor B2 (TFB2M). TFAM (a DNA-binding protein) not only activates transcription but also helps organize DNA in the nucleoid. TFB2M emerged from a gene duplication event. TFB1M, which resulted from the same duplication, serves as a methyltransferase for ribosomal RNA. TEFM and MTERF1 proteins are the proteins involved during the elongation of mtDNA. TEFM facilitates the elongation of the RNA strand, while MTERF1 is responsible for terminating transcription accurately.

Additional resources

The human mitochondrial transcription factor A is a versatile G-quadruplex binding protein

Mitochondria

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