Identification and primary structure of five human NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase subunits

The multi-subunit NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) is the first enzyme complex in the electron transport chain of mitochondria. A small number of NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase subunits are the products of mitochondrial genes (subunits 1-7), while the remainder are nuclear encoded and imported from the cytoplasm. We have isolated and sequenced five subunits of the human complex I from a human heart lambda ZAP Express cDNA library. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences of the human subunits with the corresponding bovine sequences revealed greater than 80% amino acid identity. The high degree of similarity between human and bovine sequences suggests functional conservation of these subunits in the complex I. In silico Northern analysis revealed that two of the subunits were expressed ubiquitously while the remainder may have more restricted patterns of expression.