The human homologue of the yeast mitochondrial AAA metalloprotease Yme1p complements a yeast yme1 disruptant

In yeast, three AAA superfamily metalloproteases (Yme1p, Afg3p and Rca1p) a re localized to the mitochondrial inner membrane where they perform roles i n the assembly and turnover of the respiratory chain complexes, We have inv estigated the function of the proposed human orthologue of yeast Yme1p, enc oded by the YME1L gene on chromosome 10p, Transfection of both HEK-293EBNA and yeast cells with a green fluorescent protein-tagged YME1L cDNA confirme d mitochondrial targeting. When expressed in a yme1 disruptant yeast strain , YME1L restored growth on glycerol at 37 degrees C, We propose that YME1L plays a phylogenetically conserved role in mitochondrial protein metabolism and could be involved in mitochondrial pathologies, (C) 2000 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.