SMIM10

SMIM10 (formerly CXorf69) is an 83-amino-acid X-linked protein whose only predicted transmembrane helix lies at the extreme C terminus (residues 64-82). It is therefore predicted to be a tail-anchored membrane protein with a soluble N-terminal region of about 60 residues, rich in glycine, alanine and arginine near the N terminus. Neither the topology nor the membrane it occupies has been tested directly. SMIM10 belongs to a small family with the paralogues SMIM10L1, SMIM10L2A and SMIM10L2B. Its mRNA is most abundant in blood and vascular tissue. In a yeast-based screen for human cDNAs that suppress the toxicity of oncogenic BRAF V600E, SMIM10 was recovered and described as a mitochondrial protein. When overexpressed in BRAF V600E melanoma cells it indirectly lowers BRAF V600E mRNA and protein, disrupts mitochondrial structure and function, and induces senescence. No molecular function, physiological process or loss-of-function phenotype has been established.