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  • Romo1 is a mitochondrial no...
    Lee, Gi Young; You, Deok-Gyun; Lee, Hye-Ra; Hwang, Sun Wook; Lee, C Justin; Yoo, Young Do

    The Journal of cell biology, 06/2018, Volume: 217, Issue: 6
    Journal Article

    Reactive oxygen species (ROS) modulator 1 (Romo1) is a nuclear-encoded mitochondrial inner membrane protein known to regulate mitochondrial ROS production and to act as an essential redox sensor in mitochondrial dynamics. Although its physiological roles have been studied for a decade, the biophysical mechanisms that explain these activities of Romo1 are unclear. In this study, we report that Romo1 is a unique mitochondrial ion channel that differs from currently identified eukaryotic ion channels. Romo1 is a highly conserved protein with structural features of class II viroporins, which are virus-encoded nonselective cation channels. Indeed, Romo1 forms a nonselective cation channel with its amphipathic helical transmembrane domain necessary for pore-forming activity. Notably, channel activity was specifically inhibited by Fe ions, an essential transition metal ion in ROS metabolism. Using structural bioinformatics, we designed an experimental data-guided structural model of Romo1 with a rational hexameric structure. We propose that Romo1 establishes a new category of viroporin-like nonselective cation channel in eukaryotes.