Mitochondrial carrier homolog 1

MTCH1 (mitochondrial carrier homolog 1) is a protein insertase localized to the mitochondrial outer membrane that mediates insertion of transmembrane proteins, particularly signal-anchored, tail-anchored, and multi-pass membrane proteins, while excluding beta-barrel proteins (UniProt: Q9NZJ7). The protein may also play a role in apoptotic regulation. MTCH1 is expressed in human mitochondria where it facilitates protein biogenesis at the outer membrane.

In Alzheimer's disease, MTCH1 shows decreased abundance in post-mortem AD brain tissue compared to age-matched controls. Analysis of four subcellular fractions (P2, P3, S2, S3) from TMT-labeled proteomics identified a mean log2 fold-change of −0.30 (Chaparral AD proteomics). This downregulation suggests reduced mitochondrial protein insertion capacity in AD pathology, potentially affecting organellar biogenesis or apoptotic signaling. The modest effect size and single-fraction detection warrant further validation across independent cohorts.