MROH6
MAESTRO heat-like repeat family member 6 (MROH6), also known as c8orf73, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the MROH6 gene.[1] The word 'maestro' itself is an acronym, standing for Male-Specific Transcription in the Developing Reproductive Organs (MRO). MRO genes belong to the MROH family, which includes MROH1, MROH2B, MROH7, MROH8, and MROH9.[2]
Gene
The genomic location of MROH6 in humans is on chromosome 8 (8q24.3), spanning 6,581 base pairs, from base pair 143,566,192 to 143,572,772. The gene contains a total of 15 exons.[1]
Transcript
The MROH6 gene encodes 17 known mRNA transcript variants. The longest transcript variant is simply referred to as MROH6, which is 3,265 nucleotides long and contains 14 exons.[1]
| Transcript variant number | Accession number | Span in nucleotides | Aligned length in nucleotides | Exons used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MROH6 | NM_001100878.2 | 6,581 | 3,265 | 14 |
| X1 | XM_011517214.2 | 6,581 | 2,641 | 14 |
| X2 | XM_011517215.2 | 6,581 | 2,638 | 14 |
| X3 | XM_011517216.3 | 6,581 | 2,573 | 13 |
| X4 | XM_011517217.2 | 6,581 | 2,507 | 12 |
| X5 | XM_011517220.2 | 4,974 | 2,223 | 11 |
| X6 | XM_011517221.3 | 6,334 | 2,159 | 15 |
| X7 | XM_047422089.1 | 6,334 | 2,156 | 15 |
| X8 | XM_011517222.2 | 6,581 | 2,338 | 14 |
| X9 | XM_047422090.1 | 6,333 | 2,140 | 15 |
| X10 | XM_047422092.1 | 6,581 | 2,317 | 14 |
| X11 | XM_011517223.2 | 6,581 | 2,272 | 13 |
| X12 | XM_047422093.1 | 6,581 | 2,269 | 14 |
| X13 | XM_047422094.1 | 6,581 | 2,254 | 13 |
| X14 | XM_047422095.1 | 6,581 | 2,251 | 13 |
| X15 | XM_047422096.1 | 6,581 | 2,197 | 13 |
| X16 | XM_006716615.3 | 4,987 | 2,263 | 11 |
| X17 | XM_047422097.1 | 4,987 | 2,260 | 11 |
Protein
The protein encoded by the primary isoform of MROH6 is 719 amino acids long.[1]
Domains
A notable feature of the MROH6 protein is the presence of seven HEAT repeats, which are protein tandem repeat structural motifs. HEAT repeats are composed of two alpha helices linked by a short loop. These repeats give MROH6 and its gene family its name, as well as directing the function of the protein.[3]
Structure
MROH6 consists primarily of alpha helices. The protein structure lacks any beta sheets.[4]
Regulation
Gene level
MROH6 demonstrates broad expression throughout the human body. However, it shows noticeably higher expression in certain tissues, such as the esophagus. In human fetal development, high expression is shown in the stomach, lung, intestine, and adrenal gland. RNA sequencing data also shows high expression in the cerebellum, liver, lung, placenta, small intestine, and stomach. The Human Protein Atlas indicates high expression in the bone marrow, esophagus, skin, and stomach.[5]
Protein Level
The protein is predicted to be localized within the cytoplasm, nucleus, and mitochondria.[6]
Evolution
Orthologs
Orthologs of the MROH6 protein were found to exist in amniotes as well as the genome of Amia calva. Despite the presence of the gene in Amia calva, orthologs of MROH6 have not been found in any other fish nor in amphibians.
| Scientific name | Common name | Taxon | median date of divergence (MYA) | Accession # | Length (amino acids) | % identity to humans | % similarity to humans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homo Sapiens | Humans | Primates | 0.0 | NP_001094348.1 | 719 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Theropithecus gelada | Gelada | Primates | 28.8 | XP_025250353.1 | 717 | 95.5% | 96.9% |
| Mus musculus | House mouse | Rodentia | 87.0 | NP_001269372.1 | 722 | 79.8% | 85.6% |
| Ursus maritimus | Polar bear | Carnivora | 94.0 | XP_040481956.1 | 705 | 79.5% | 84.4% |
| Bos taurus | Common cattle | Artiodactyl | 94.0 | XP_002692603.1 | 711 | 79.8% | 84.6% |
| Manis javanica | Malayan pangolin | Pholidota | 94.0 | KAI5929482.1 | 691 | 74.2% | 80.2% |
| Elephas maximus indicus | Indian elephant | Elephantidae | 99.0 | XP_049709696.1 | 717 | 80.8% | 85.8% |
| Sarcophilus harrisii | Tasmanian devil | Marsupialia | 160.0 | XP_031803182.1 | 735 | 57.9% | 66.7% |
| Ornithorhynchus anatinus | Platypus | Monotremes | 180.0 | XP_039767867.1 | 832 | 51.3% | 58.9% |
| Gallus gallus | Red junglefowl | Galliformes | 319.0 | XP_040537654.1 | 651 | 23.8% | 37.7% |
| Anas platyrhynchos | Mallard | Anseriformes | 319.0 | XP_071898069.1 | 736 | 20.4% | 32.6% |
| Falco naumanni | Lesser kestrel | Falconiformes | 319.0 | XP_040449421.1 | 583 | 20.7% | 32.7% |
| Patagioenas fasciata | Band-tailed pigeon | Columbiformes | 319.0 | XP_071666853.1 | 857 | 22.7% | 33.6% |
| Colius striatus | Speckled mousebird | Coliiformes | 319.0 | XP_061870785.1 | 581 | 22.0% | 32.9% |
| Candoia aspera | Papuan ground boa | Serpentes | 319.0 | XP_063156074.1 | 775 | 33.2% | 47.0% |
| Tiliqua scincoides | Common blue-tongued skink | Scincidae | 319.0 | XP_066477445.1 | 734 | 24.3% | 37.4% |
| Chelonia mydas | Green sea turtle | Cryptodira | 319.0 | XP_027683785.3 | 885 | 32.0% | 42.4% |
| Emydura macquarii macquarii | Macquarie River turtle | Pleurodira | 319.0 | XP_067392966.1 | 372 | 19.2% | 27.3% |
| Crocodylus porosus | Saltwater crocodile | Crocodilians | 319.0 | XP_019406236.1 | 169 | 6.4% | 9.6% |
| Amia calva | Ruddy bowfin | Actinopterygii | 429.0 | XP_066543890.1 | 168 | 7.2% | 10.9% |
Paralogs
MROH6 has multiple paralogs found in the human genome and is a member of the MROH family, consisting of seven other genes, as well as three pseudogenes.[2]
| Paralog | Accession # | Length (amino acids) | Percent identity to MROH6 | Percent similarity to MROH6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRO | NP_114145 | 248 | 7.9% | 12.5% |
| MROH1 | NP_115826.3 | 1,641 | 12.0% | 16.9% |
| MROH2A | NP_001381568.1 | 1,674 | 10.2% | 17.0% |
| MROH2B | NP_775760.3 | 1,585 | 10.3% | 17.0% |
| MROH7 | NP_001034553.3 | 1,323 | 16.0% | 23.7% |
| MROH8 | NP_689716.4 | 1,052 | 15.8% | 27.0% |
| MROH9 | NP_001157101.1 | 861 | 18.3% | 31.1% |
Interacting proteins
The MROH6 protein has been shown and predicted to interact with a wide variety of proteins with a wide variety of functions and localization. These include NUDT15, XPO1, NMNAT1, NMNAT2, NMNAT3, NAPRT, FTL, IQGAP1, SMCO3, NADSYN1, and FAAH.[9][10][11][12]
Clinical significance
Little research has been done into MROH6. MROH6 has been identified as a possible contributor to neuroblastoma, with high expression of the protein leading to poor prognosis.[13] Other studies have identified changes in MROH6 expression as a possible contributor to male infertility, changes in interleukin-18 levels, and gestational diabetes mellitus.[14][15][16]
References
- ^ a b c d "MROH6 maestro heat like repeat family member 6 [ Homo sapiens (human) ]". National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
- ^ a b Kenigsberg, Shlomit; Lima, Patricia D. A.; Maghen, Leila; Wyse, Brandon A.; Lackan, Chantal; Cheung, Annie N. Y.; Tsang, Benjamin K.; Librach, Clifford L. (2017-04-13). "The elusive MAESTRO gene: Its human reproductive tissue-specific expression pattern". PLOS ONE. 12 (4) e0174873. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1274873K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0174873. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5391009. PMID 28406912.
- ^ Kobe, Bostjan; Gleichmann, Thomas; Horne, James; Jennings, Ian G.; Scotney, Pierre D.; Teh, Trazel (1999-05-05). "Turn up the HEAT". Structure. 7 (5): R91–R97. doi:10.1016/S0969-2126(99)80060-4. ISSN 0969-2126. PMID 10378263.
- ^ Powell, Harold R.; Islam, Suhail A.; David, Alessia; Sternberg, Michael J.E. (2025). "Phyre2.2: A Community Resource for Template-based Protein Structure Prediction". Journal of Molecular Biology. 437 (15) 168960. doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2025.168960. PMC 7617537. PMID 40133783.
- ^ "MROH6 protein expression summary". The Human Protein Atlas. The Human Protein Atlas. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
- ^ "PSORT II prediction". PSORT. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
- ^ "MROH6 - maestro heat like repeat family member 6". National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ^ Madeira, Fábio; Madhusoodanan, Nandana; Lee, Joonheung; Eusebi, Alberto; Niewielska, Ania; Tivey, Adrian R N; Lopez, Rodrigo; Butcher, Sarah (2024-07-05). "The EMBL-EBI Job Dispatcher sequence analysis tools framework in 2024" (PDF). Nucleic Acids Research. 52 (W1): W521–W525. doi:10.1093/nar/gkae241. ISSN 0305-1048. PMC 11223882. PMID 38597606. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
- ^ "MROH6 Result Summary". BioGRID. BioGRID. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
- ^ "IMEx". EMBL-EBI. European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
- ^ Calderone, Alberto; Castagnoli, Luisa; Cesareni, Gianni (2013). "mentha: a resource for browsing integrated protein-interaction networks". Nature Methods. 10 (8): 690–691. doi:10.1038/nmeth.2561. ISSN 1548-7091. PMID 23900247. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
- ^ "STRING - SEARCH - Single Protein by Name / Identifier". STRING. STRING Consortium. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
- ^ Oswald, Sally (2023). A proteomics investigation into the role of zDHHC23 and MROH6 in neuroblastoma. University of Liverpool (Thesis). doi:10.17638/03169651. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
- ^ Borgmann, Jennifer; Tüttelmann, Frank; Dworniczak, Bernd; Röpke, Albrecht; Song, Hye-Won; Kliesch, Sabine; Wilkinson, Miles F.; Laurentino, Sandra; Gromoll, Jörg (2016-09-15). "The human RHOX gene cluster: target genes and functional analysis of gene variants in infertile men" (PDF). Human Molecular Genetics. 25 (22): 4898–4910. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddw313. ISSN 0964-6906. PMC 6281360. PMID 28171660. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ^ Johansson, Åsa; Eriksson, Niclas; Becker, Richard C.; Storey, Robert F.; Himmelmann, Anders; Hagström, Emil; Varenhorst, Christoph; Axelsson, Tomas; Barratt, Bryan J.; James, Stefan K.; Katus, Hugo A.; Steg, Philippe Gabriel; Syvänen, Ann-Christine; Wallentin, Lars; Siegbahn, Agneta (2015). "NLRC4 Inflammasome Is an Important Regulator of Interleukin-18 Levels in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes: Genome-Wide Association Study in the PLATelet inhibition and patient Outcomes Trial (PLATO)". Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics. 8 (3): 498–506. doi:10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.114.000724. ISSN 1942-325X. PMID 25747584.
- ^ Srour, Luma; Bejaoui, Yosra; Jerobin, Jayakumar; Dweik, Manar; Sankar, Aswathy; Qannan, Abeer; Allouche Colak, Nassima; Chagoury, Odette; Yousri, Noha A.; Farrell, Thomas; Fthenou, Eleni; Bashir, Mohammed; El Hajj, Nady (2025). "Maternal DNA methylation signatures of gestational diabetes across all stages of pregnancy". Journal of Translational Medicine. 23 (1) 1424. doi:10.1186/s12967-025-07237-0. medRxiv 10.1101/2025.05.25.25328297. PMC 12729693. PMID 41444904.