Mouse mitoribosome large subunit assembly intermediate (with uL16m) bound to MRM3-dimer, DDX28 and the MALSU-L0R8F8-mt-ACP complex, state A2 (SAMC knock-out)
S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is the principal methyl donor in cells and is essential for mitochondrial gene expression, influencing RNA modifications, translation, and ribosome biogenesis. Using direct long-read RNA sequencing in mouse tissues and embryonic fibroblasts, we show that processing of the mitochondrial ribosomal gene cluster fails in the absence of mitochondrial SAM, leading to an accumulation of unprocessed precursors. Proteomic analysis of ribosome fractions revealed these precursors associated with processing and assembly factors, indicating stalled biogenesis. Structural analysis by cryo-electron microscopy demonstrated that SAM-dependent methylation is required for peptidyl transferase centre formation during mitoribosome assembly. Our findings identify a critical role for SAM in coordinating mitoribosomal RNA processing and large subunit maturation, linking cellular methylation potential to mitochondrial translation capacity.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Solna, Sweden.
Centre for Inherited Metabolic Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Max-Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany.
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. christoph.freyer@ki.se.
Centre for Inherited Metabolic Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. christoph.freyer@ki.se.
University of Münster, Münster, Germany. alexey.amunts@gmail.com.
Department of Structural Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, Germany. alexey.amunts@gmail.com.
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. anna.wredenberg@ki.se.
Centre for Inherited Metabolic Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. anna.wredenberg@ki.se.