Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A1 in the pathogenesis and treatment of cancers

Abnormal translate regulation is an important phenomenon in cancer initiation and progression. Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A1 (eIF4A1) protein is an ATP-dependent Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) helicase, which is essential for translation and has bidirectional RNA unwinders function. In this review, we discuss the levels of expression, regulatory mechanisms and protein functions of eIF4A1 in different human tumors. eIF4A1 is often involved as a target of microRNAs or long non-coding RNAs during the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, associating with the proliferation and metastasis of tumor cells. eIF4A1 protein exhibits the promising biomarker for rapid diagnosis of pre-cancer lesions, histological phenotypes, clinical staging diagnosis and outcome prediction, which provides a novel strategy for precise medical care and target therapy for patients with tumors at the same time, relevant small molecule inhibitors have also been applied in clinical practice, providing reliable theoretical support and clinical basis for the development of this gene target.