MRPL21 Gene

HGNC Family Mitochondrial ribosomal proteins (MRPL, MRPS)
Name mitochondrial ribosomal protein L21
Description 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. Multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms were identified through sequence analysis although some may be subject to nonsense-mediated decay (NMD). [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Summary
{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nMRPL21 is a mitochondrial ribosomal protein implicated in the regulation of mitochondrial apoptosis and energy metabolism. In the context of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), MRPL21 has been documented to play a dual role—contributing not only to the maintenance of efficient mitochondrial protein synthesis but also to the modulation of the apoptotic machinery that suppresses tumor proliferation and metastasis."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\nThe studies highlight that MRPL21 is intricately involved in mitochondrial apoptosis, where its function aids in the execution of programmed cell death mechanisms that can limit cancer cell spread. At the same time, MRPL21 appears to confer a degree of resistance to apoptosis under certain conditions, suggesting that fine-tuning of mitochondrial gene expression and ribosomal function by MRPL21 is essential for balancing cellular survival and death signals in HCC."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\nCollectively, these findings underscore the significance of MRPL21 in governing critical aspects of mitochondrial function, particularly in the context of cancer. By influencing both energy metabolism and the apoptotic cascade, MRPL21 emerges as a potential molecular target for therapeutic intervention in HCC, warranting further exploration of its mechanistic roles in mitochondrial dynamics and tumor suppression."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Tao Ma, Ya-Bin Huang, Jing Chen, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "MRPL21 promotes HCC proliferation through TP53 mutation-induced apoptotic resistance."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Tissue Cell (2024)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.tice.2023.102298"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tice.2023.102298"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "38181584"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38181584"}]}]}]}
Synonyms L21MT, MRP-L21
Proteins RM21_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID 219927
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions View MRPL21's ARCHS4 Predicted Functions.
Co-expressed Genes View MRPL21's ARCHS4 Predicted Functions.
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines View MRPL21's ARCHS4 Predicted Functions.

Functional Associations

MRPL21 has 4,950 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, functional term, phrase or reference, disease, phenotype or trait, chemical, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 101 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for MRPL21 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Dataset Summary
Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles tissue samples with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray tissue samples with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq tissue samples with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq dataset.
Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles cell types and tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles cell types and tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles cell lines with high or low copy number of MRPL21 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles cell lines with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
CCLE Cell Line Proteomics Cell lines associated with MRPL21 protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of MRPL21 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
ChEA Transcription Factor Targets transcription factors binding the promoter of MRPL21 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 transcription factors binding the promoter of MRPL21 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas gene perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores cellular components containing MRPL21 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 cellular components containing MRPL21 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 cellular components containing MRPL21 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores cellular components co-occuring with MRPL21 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 cellular components co-occuring with MRPL21 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
CORUM Protein Complexes protein complexs containing MRPL21 protein from the CORUM Protein Complexes dataset.
COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles cell lines with high or low copy number of MRPL21 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles cell lines with MRPL21 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
CTD Gene-Disease Associations diseases associated with MRPL21 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action small molecule perturbations with high or low expression of MRPL21 protein relative to other small molecule perturbations from the DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action dataset.
DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores diseases co-occuring with MRPL21 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 diseases co-occuring with MRPL21 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations diseases associated with MRPL21 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at MRPL21 gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of MRPL21 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets transcription factors binding the promoter of MRPL21 gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing MRPL21 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations diseases associated with MRPL21 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing MRPL21 from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset.
GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases disease perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases dataset.
GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations gene perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset.
GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Kinase Perturbations kinase perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Kinase Perturbations dataset.
GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules small molecule perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Transcription Factor Perturbations transcription factor perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Transcription Factor Perturbations dataset.
GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections virus perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections dataset.
GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 biological processes involving MRPL21 gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 dataset.
GO Biological Process Annotations 2023 biological processes involving MRPL21 gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations 2023 dataset.
GO Biological Process Annotations 2025 biological processes involving MRPL21 gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations2025 dataset.
GO Cellular Component Annotations 2015 cellular components containing MRPL21 protein from the curated GO Cellular Component Annotations 2015 dataset.
GO Cellular Component Annotations 2023 cellular components containing MRPL21 protein from the curated GO Cellular Component Annotations 2023 dataset.
GO Cellular Component Annotations 2025 cellular components containing MRPL21 protein from the curated GO Cellular Component Annotations 2025 dataset.
GO Molecular Function Annotations 2015 molecular functions performed by MRPL21 gene from the curated GO Molecular Function Annotations 2015 dataset.
GO Molecular Function Annotations 2023 molecular functions performed by MRPL21 gene from the curated GO Molecular Function Annotations 2023 dataset.
GTEx eQTL 2025 SNPs regulating expression of MRPL21 gene from the GTEx eQTL 2025 dataset.
GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissues from the GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles 2023 tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissues from the GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles 2023 dataset.
GTEx Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles tissue samples with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissue samples from the GTEx Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles cell lines with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other cell lines from the Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
HPA Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles cell lines with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other cell lines from the HPA Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
HPA Tissue Gene Expression Profiles tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissues from the HPA Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
HPA Tissue Protein Expression Profiles tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 protein relative to other tissues from the HPA Tissue Protein Expression Profiles dataset.
HPA Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles tissue samples with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissue samples from the HPA Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
HPM Cell Type and Tissue Protein Expression Profiles cell types and tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 protein relative to other cell types and tissues from the HPM Cell Type and Tissue Protein Expression Profiles dataset.
HuGE Navigator Gene-Phenotype Associations phenotypes associated with MRPL21 gene by text-mining GWAS publications from the HuGE Navigator Gene-Phenotype Associations dataset.
InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations protein domains predicted for MRPL21 protein from the InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations dataset.
JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets 2025 transcription factors regulating expression of MRPL21 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
JASPAR Predicted Mouse Transcription Factor Targets 2025 transcription factors regulating expression of MRPL21 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Mouse Transcription Factor Targets 2025 dataset.
JASPAR Predicted Transcription Factor Targets transcription factors regulating expression of MRPL21 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
KEGG Pathways 2026 pathways involving MRPL21 protein from the KEGG Pathways 2026 dataset.
Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles cell lines with high or low copy number of MRPL21 gene relative to other cell lines from the Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles cell lines with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other cell lines from the Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles cell lines with MRPL21 gene mutations from the Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
LOCATE Curated Protein Localization Annotations cellular components containing MRPL21 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the LOCATE Curated Protein Localization Annotations dataset.
LOCATE Predicted Protein Localization Annotations cellular components predicted to contain MRPL21 protein from the LOCATE Predicted Protein Localization Annotations dataset.
MiRTarBase microRNA Targets microRNAs targeting MRPL21 gene in low- or high-throughput microRNA targeting studies from the MiRTarBase microRNA Targets dataset.
MotifMap Predicted Transcription Factor Targets transcription factors regulating expression of MRPL21 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the MotifMap Predicted Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
MoTrPAC Rat Endurance Exercise Training tissue samples with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissue samples from the MoTrPAC Rat Endurance Exercise Training dataset.
NIBR DRUG-seq U2OS MoA Box Gene Expression Profiles drug perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the NIBR DRUG-seq U2OS MoA Box dataset.
NURSA Protein Complexes protein complexs containing MRPL21 protein recovered by IP-MS from the NURSA Protein Complexes dataset.
Pathway Commons Protein-Protein Interactions interacting proteins for MRPL21 from the Pathway Commons Protein-Protein Interactions dataset.
PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations gene perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset.
PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Mouse Gene Perturbations gene perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset.
PFOCR Pathway Figure Associations 2023 pathways involving MRPL21 protein from the PFOCR Pathway Figure Associations 2023 dataset.
PFOCR Pathway Figure Associations 2024 pathways involving MRPL21 protein from the Wikipathways PFOCR 2024 dataset.
ProteomicsDB Cell Type and Tissue Protein Expression Profiles cell types and tissues with high or low expression of MRPL21 protein relative to other cell types and tissues from the ProteomicsDB Cell Type and Tissue Protein Expression Profiles dataset.
Reactome Pathways 2014 pathways involving MRPL21 protein from the Reactome Pathways dataset.
Reactome Pathways 2024 pathways involving MRPL21 protein from the Reactome Pathways 2024 dataset.
Replogle et al., Cell, 2022 K562 Essential Perturb-seq Gene Perturbation Signatures gene perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the Replogle et al., Cell, 2022 K562 Essential Perturb-seq Gene Perturbation Signatures dataset.
Replogle et al., Cell, 2022 K562 Genome-wide Perturb-seq Gene Perturbation Signatures gene perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the Replogle et al., Cell, 2022 K562 Genome-wide Perturb-seq Gene Perturbation Signatures dataset.
Replogle et al., Cell, 2022 RPE1 Essential Perturb-seq Gene Perturbation Signatures gene perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the Replogle et al., Cell, 2022 RPE1 Essential Perturb-seq Gene Perturbation Signatures dataset.
Roadmap Epigenomics Cell and Tissue DNA Methylation Profiles cell types and tissues with high or low DNA methylation of MRPL21 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the Roadmap Epigenomics Cell and Tissue DNA Methylation Profiles dataset.
Roadmap Epigenomics Histone Modification Site Profiles histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at MRPL21 gene from the Roadmap Epigenomics Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
Rummagene Transcription Factor Associations 2026 transcription factors regulating expression of MRPL21 gene from the Rummagene Transcription Factor Associations 2026 dataset.
RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures drug perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures dataset.
RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures gene perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures dataset.
Sanger Dependency Map Cancer Cell Line Proteomics cell lines associated with MRPL21 protein from the Sanger Dependency Map Cancer Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
Sci-Plex Drug Perturbation Signatures drug perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the Sci-Plex Drug Perturbation Signatures dataset.
Tahoe Therapeutics Tahoe 100M Perturbation Atlas drug perturbations changing expression of MRPL21 gene from the Tahoe Therapeutics Tahoe 100M Perturbation Atlas dataset.
TargetScan Predicted Nonconserved microRNA Targets microRNAs regulating expression of MRPL21 gene predicted using nonconserved miRNA seed sequences from the TargetScan Predicted Nonconserved microRNA Targets dataset.
TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors tissue samples with high or low expression of MRPL21 gene relative to other tissue samples from the TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors dataset.
TISSUES Curated Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores tissues with high expression of MRPL21 protein from the TISSUES Curated Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores dataset.
TISSUES Curated Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 tissues with high expression of MRPL21 protein from the TISSUES Curated Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
TISSUES Experimental Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores tissues with high expression of MRPL21 protein in proteomics datasets from the TISSUES Experimental Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores dataset.
TISSUES Experimental Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 tissues with high expression of MRPL21 protein in proteomics datasets from the TISSUES Experimental Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores tissues co-occuring with MRPL21 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores dataset.
TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 tissues co-occuring with MRPL21 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.