Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Monitoring eIF4F Assembly by Measuring eIF4E-eIF4G Interaction in Live Cells
Published on: May 1, 2020
Controlling gene expression through RNA regulons: the role of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF4E
Biljana Culjkovic1, Ivan Topisirovic, Katherine L B Borden
1Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Abstract:
The eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF4E is a potent oncogene. In fact, its overexpression in human cancer often correlates with poor prognosis. Traditionally, eIF4E plays a role in translation initiation where it binds the 5' m7G cap found on mRNAs. More recent studies indicate that a significant fraction of eIF4E (up to 68%) resides in the nucleus where it regulates the nuclear export of specific mRNAs. Additionally, eIF4E may play a role in mRNA sequestration and stability in cytoplasmic processing bodies (P-bodies). Our recent studies suggest that eIF4E governs cell cycle progression and cellular proliferation by coordinately orchestrating the expression of several genes at the post-transcriptional level. Hence, eIF4E functions as a central node of an RNA regulon (described below), which plays an essential role in normal differentiation and development and is frequently dysregulated in cancer. Several cellular factors, such as the promyelocytic leukemia protein PML, modulate the function of this regulon by altering the activity of eIF4E. Here, the physiological implications of these observations are described and the clinical implications of directly targeting eIF4E, and the related regulon, are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...
Regulation of Expression at Multiple Steps
Translational Regulation
What is Gene Expression?
What is Gene Expression?
Gene expression is the process in which DNA directs the synthesis of functional products, that is, proteins. Cells can regulate gene expression at various stages. It allows organisms to generate different cell types and enables cells to adapt to internal and external factors.
Genetic Information Flows from DNA to RNA to Protein
A gene is a stretch of DNA that serves as the blueprint for functional RNAs and proteins. Since DNA is made up of nucleotides and proteins consist of amino...

