Mitochondrial ferritin is a
ferroxidase enzyme
An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''FTMT''
gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
.
It is classified as a metal-binding protein which is located within the
mitochondria
A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...
. After the protein is taken up by the mitochondria it can be processed into a mature protein and assemble functional
ferritin
Ferritin is a universal intracellular and extracellular protein that stores iron and releases it in a controlled fashion. The protein is produced by almost all living organisms, including archaea, bacteria, algae, higher plants, and animals. ...
shells.
Structure
Its structure was determined at 1.70 Ã… through the use of X-ray diffraction and contains 182 residues. It is 67% helical. The
Ramachandran plot
In biochemistry, a Ramachandran plot (also known as a Rama plot, a Ramachandran diagram or a †,ψplot), originally developed in 1963 by G. N. Ramachandran, C. Ramakrishnan, and V. Sasisekharan, is a way to visualize energetically allowed regio ...
shows that the structure of mitochondrial ferritin is mainly alpha helical with a low prevalence of beta sheets.
References
Further reading
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EC 1.16.3
Storage proteins
Mitochondria
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