Description
Product Characteristics:
ATP-dependent serine protease that mediates the selective degradation of misfolded, unassembled or oxidatively damaged polypeptides as well as certain short-lived regulatory proteins in the mitochondrial matrix. May also have a chaperone function in the assembly of inner membrane protein complexes. Participates in the regulation of mitochondrial gene expression and in the maintenance of the integrity of the mitochondrial genome. Binds to mitochondrial promoters and RNA in a single-stranded, site-specific, and strand-specific manner. May regulate mitochondrial DNA replication and/or gene expression using site-specific, single-stranded DNA binding to target the degradation of regulatory proteins binding to adjacent sites in mitochondrial promoters. Endogenous substrates include mitochondrial steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein.
Subcellular location: Cytoplasm
Synonyms: LON, LONP, hLON, LonHS, PRSS15, Lon protease homolog, mitochondrial, Lon protease-like protein, Mitochondrial ATP-dependent protease Lon, Serine protease 15, LONP1
Target Information: This gene encodes a mitochondrial matrix protein that belongs to the Lon family of ATP-dependent proteases. This protein mediates the selective degradation of misfolded, unassembled or oxidatively damaged polypeptides in the mitochondrial matrix. It may also have a chaperone function in the assembly of inner membrane protein complexes, and participate in the regulation of mitochondrial gene expression and maintenance of the integrity of the mitochondrial genome. Decreased expression of this gene has been noted in a patient with hereditary spastic paraplegia (PMID:18378094). Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2013]