Mammalian Mitochondrial homolog of Ribosomal Protein S7
uS7, also known as Ribosomal protein (RP)S7, is an important part of the translation process which is universally present in the small subunit of prokaryotic and eukaryotic ribosomes. MRPS7 shows more homology to bacterial RPS7 than mitochondrial proteins from plants and fungi. The ribosome small subunit is one of the two subunits of ribosome organelles that use mRNA as a template for protein synthesis in a process called translation. The ribosomes present in mammalian mitochondria have more proteins and low percentage of ribosomal RNA than bacterial ribosomes. The small subunits of bacteria and eukaryotes have the same shape of head, body, platform, beak, and shoulder. RPS7 is located at the head of the small subunit. RPS7 is a primary ribosomal RNA (rRNA) binding protein that assists in rRNA folding and the binding of other proteins during small subunit assembly in all species. RPS7 is also involved in the formation of the mRNA exit channel at the interface of the large and small subunits. Some ribosomal proteins have extra ribosomal functions in cell differentiation and apoptosis.