This nuclear gene encodes a protein component of the larger 39S subunit of mitochondrial ribosome. This protein may also aid in the import of nuclear-encoded 5S rRNA into mitochondria. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants, most of which are not predicted to encode a protein. A pseudogene of this gene is found on chromosome 16.,MRPL18,HSPC071,L18mt,MRP-L18,Epigenetics & Nuclear Signaling,Endocrine & Metabolism,Mitochondrial metabolism,Mitochondrial markers,Mitochondrial translation,MRPL18