Mammalian mitochondrial ribosomal proteins are encoded by nuclear genes and help in protein synthesis within the mitochondrion. Mitochondrial ribosomes (mitoribosomes) consist of a small 28S subunit and a large 39S subunit. They have an estimated 75% protein to rRNA composition compared to prokaryotic ribosomes, where this ratio is reversed. Another difference between mammalian mitoribosomes and prokaryotic ribosomes is that the latter contain a 5S rRNA. Among different species, the proteins comprising the mitoribosome differ greatly in sequence, and sometimes in biochemical properties, which prevents easy recognition by sequence homology. This gene encodes a 39S subunit protein. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. Pseudogenes corresponding to this gene are found on chromosomes 6p and 12p. Read-through transcription also exists between this gene and the neighboring upstream lipoyltransferase 1 (LIPT1) gene. [provided by RefSeq, Mar 2011]