Ribosomal protein mutations and cell competition: autonomous and nonautonomous effects on a stress response

Ribosomal proteins (Rps) are essential for viability. Genetic mutations affecting Rp genes were first discovered in Drosophila, where they represent a major class of haploinsufficient mutations. One mutant copy gives rise to the dominant "Minute" phenotype, characterized by slow growth and small, thin bristles. Wild-type (WT) and Minute cells compete in mosaics, that is, Rp+/- are preferentially lost when their neighbors are of the wild-type genotype. Many features of Rp gene haploinsufficiency (i.e. Rp+/- phenotypes) are mediated by a transcriptional program. In Drosophila, reduced translation and slow growth are under the control of Xrp1, a bZip-domain transcription factor induced in Rp mutant cells that leads ultimately to the phosphorylation of eIF2α and consequently inhibition of most translation. Rp mutant phenotypes are also mediated transcriptionally in yeast and in mammals. In mammals, the Impaired Ribosome Biogenesis Checkpoint activates p53. Recent findings link Rp mutant phenotypes to other cellular stresses, including the DNA damage response and endoplasmic reticulum stress. We suggest that cell competition results from nonautonomous inputs to stress responses, bringing decisions between adaptive and apoptotic outcomes under the influence of nearby cells. In Drosophila, cell competition eliminates aneuploid cells in which loss of chromosome leads to Rp gene haploinsufficiency. The effects of Rp gene mutations on the whole organism, in Minute flies or in humans with Diamond-Blackfan Anemia, may be inevitable consequences of pathways that are useful in eliminating individual cells from mosaics. Alternatively, apparently deleterious whole organism phenotypes might be adaptive, preventing even more detrimental outcomes. In mammals, for example, p53 activation appears to suppress oncogenic effects of Rp gene haploinsufficiency.