Ribosome biogenesis and cancer

There is growing evidence indicating that the human pathological conditions characterized by an up-regulated ribosome biogenesis are at an increased risk of cancer onset. At the basis of this relationship is the close interconnection between the ribosome biogenesis and cell proliferation. Cell proliferation-stimulating factors also stimulate ribosome production, while the ribosome biogenesis rate controls the cell cycle progression. The major tumour suppressor, the p53 protein, plays an important balancing role between the ribosome biogenesis rate and the cell progression through the cell cycle phases. The perturbation of ribosome biogenesis stabilizes and activates p53, with a consequent cell cycle arrest and/or apoptotic cell death, whereas an up-regulated ribosome production down-regulates p53 expression and activity, thus facilitating neoplastic transformation. In the present review we describe the interconnection between ribosome biogenesis and cell proliferation, while highlighting the mechanisms by which quantitative changes in ribosome biogenesis may induce cancer.