The regulation of the translation of messenger RNA (mRNA) in eukaryotic cells is critical for gene expression, and occurs principally at the initiation phase which is mainly regulated by eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs). eIFs are fundamental for the translation of mRNA and as such act as the primary targets of several signaling pathways to regulate gene expression. Mis-regulated mRNA expression is a common feature of tumorigenesis and the abnormal activity of eIF complexes triggered by upstream signaling pathways is detected in many tumors, leading to the selective translation of mRNA encoding proteins involved in tumorigenesis, metastasis, or resistance to anti-cancer drugs, and making eIFs a promising therapeutic target for various types of cancers. Here, we briefly outline our current understanding of the biology of eIFs, mainly focusing on the effects of several signaling pathways upon their functions and discuss their contributions to the initiation and progression of tumor growth. An overview of the progress in developing agents targeting the components of translation machinery for cancer treatment is also provided.

中文翻译：

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真核翻译起始因子作为癌症治疗的有希望的靶点

真核细胞中信使 RNA (mRNA) 翻译的调节对于基因表达至关重要，主要发生在起始阶段，主要受真核起始因子 (eIF) 调节。eIFs 是 mRNA 翻译的基础，因此作为几个信号通路的主要目标来调节基因表达。错误调节的 mRNA 表达是肿瘤发生的一个共同特征，在许多肿瘤中检测到由上游信号通路触发的 eIF 复合物的异常活性，导致参与肿瘤发生、转移或抗癌抗性的 mRNA 编码蛋白的选择性翻译药物，并使 eIF 成为各种类型癌症的有希望的治疗靶点。在这里，我们简要概述了我们目前对 eIF 生物学的理解，主要关注几种信号通路对其功能的影响，并讨论它们对肿瘤生长的启动和进展的贡献。还概述了开发针对癌症治疗翻译机制组件的代理的进展。