RNA component of mitochondrial RNA processing endoribonuclease the RNA component of mitochondrial RNA processing endoribonuclease, which cleaves mitochondrial RNA at a priming site of mitochondrial DNA replication. This RNA also interacts with the telomerase reverse transcriptase catalytic subunit to form a distinct ribonucleoprotein complex that has RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity and produces double-stranded RNAs that can be processed into small interfering RNA. Mutations in this gene are associated with cartilage-hair hypoplasia.
The enzyme is a ribonucleoprotein whose RNA component is a nuclear gene product. The RNA component is the first RNA encoded by a single-copy gene in the nucleus and imported into mitochondria. The RMRP gene is untranslated, i.e., it encodes an RNA, not a protein.