Interferons (IFNs) inhibit the growth of many different cell types by altering the expression of specific genes. IFNs activities are partly mediated by the 2 0 -5 0 oligoadenylates-RNase L RNA decay pathway. RNase L is an endoribonuclease requiring activation by 2 0 -5 0 oligoadenylates to cleave single-stranded RNA. Here, we present evidence that degradation of mitochondrial mRNA by RNase L leads to cytochrome c release and caspase 3 activation during IFNa-induced apoptosis. We identify and characterize the mitochondrial translation initiation factor (IF2mt) as a new partner of RNase L. Moreover, we show that specific inhibition of mitochondrial translation with chloramphenicol inhibits the IFNa-induced degradation of mitochondrial mRNA by RNase L. Finally, we demonstrate that overexpression of IF2mt in human H9 cells stabilizes mitochondrial mRNA, inhibits apoptosis induced by IFNa and partially reverses IFNa-cell growth inhibition. On the basis of our results, we propose a model describing how RNase L regulates mitochondrial mRNA stability through its interaction with IF2mt. Apoptosis is a regulated cell death process that plays a central role in the control of many physiological events. Cells die by apoptosis during embryonic development, tissue homeostasis or immune regulation and defects in the apoptotic pathway during these events can lead to excessive cell accumulation with dramatic consequences. 1-3 Interferons (IFNs) are among the regulators of apoptosis. They belong to a family of cytokines produced and secreted by mammalian cells in response to various inducers. They are negative regulators of cell proliferation through induction of cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis, but the mechanisms are not yet fully understood. The 2-5A/RNase L pathway is a single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) decay pathway induced by IFNs: the 2-5A synthetases are induced by IFNs and upon activation by doublestranded RNA (dsRNA), convert ATP into a series of oligomers known as 2 0 -5 0 oligoadenylates (2-5A). 4,5 The 2-5A activates RNase L, a latent endoribonuclease, which inhibits protein synthesis by cleaving ssRNA. 6,7 RNase L plays a central role in IFNs cell growth inhibition and in IFN-induced apoptosis. [8][9][10][11][12] Activation of RNase L causes caspase-dependent apoptosis accompanied by cytochrome c release from the mitochondria. 13 20 RNase L activity is regulated not only by 2-5A binding, but also by interaction with other proteins. It has been shown previously that RNase L can form a heterodimer with the RNase L inhibitor (RLI), a protein that inhibits 2-5A binding to RNase L, resulting in an inhibition of RNase L activity. 21,22 More recently, we demonstrated that RNase L interacts with the translation termination release factor eRF3/GSPT1 and that their interaction is important for its role in translation termination regulation. 23 We set out to identify other potential RNase L partners to better comprehend its mechanism of action. In the present study, a yeast two-hybrid screening, using human RNase L as bait identifies ...