Lon protease family

In molecular biology, the Lon protease family is a family of proteases. They are found in archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes. Lon proteases are ATP-dependent serine peptidases belonging to the MEROPS peptidase family S16 (lon protease family, clan SJ). In the eukaryotes the majority of the Lon proteases are located in the mitochondrial matrix. In yeast, the Lon protease PIM1 is located in the mitochondrial matrix. It is required for mitochondrial function, it is constitutively expressed but is increased after thermal stress, suggesting that PIM1 may play a role in the heat shock response.