MTPAP (human), recombinant protein

Protein function: Polymerase that creates the 3' poly(A) tail of mitochondrial transcripts. Can use all four nucleotides, but has higher activity with ATP and UTP (in vitro). Plays a role in replication-dependent histone mRNA degradation. May be involved in the terminal uridylation of mature histone mRNAs before their degradation is initiated. Might be responsible for the creation of some UAA stop codons which are not encoded in mtDNA. [The UniProt Consortium]