Calcium uptake protein 2, mitochondrial

UniProtKB accession:  Q8CD10

Grouped By:  Matching UniProtKB accession

UniProtKB description:  Calcium sensor of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) channel, which senses calcium level via its EF-hand domains (PubMed:23409044, PubMed:24560927). MICU1 and MICU2 form a disulfide-linked heterodimer that stimulates and inhibits MCU activity, depending on the concentration of calcium (PubMed:24560927). At low calcium levels, MICU1 occludes the pore of the MCU channel, preventing mitochondrial calcium uptake (By similarity). At higher calcium levels, calcium-binding to MICU1 and MICU2 induces a conformational change that weakens MCU-MICU1 interactions and moves the MICU1-MICU2 heterodimer away from the pore, allowing calcium permeation through the MCU channel (By similarity).