ATP-dependent RNA helicase DHX29
cytosolic small ribosomal subunit
The helicase protein DHX29 promotes translation initiation, cell proliferation, and tumorigenesis.
Translational control plays an important role in cell growth and tumorigenesis. Cap-dependent translation initiation of mammalian mRNAs with structured 5'UTRs requires the DExH-box protein, DHX29, in vitro. Here we show that DHX29 is important for translation in vivo. Down-regulation of DHX29 leads to impaired translation, resulting in disassembly of polysomes and accumulation of mRNA-free 80S monomers. DHX29 depletion also impedes cancer cell growth in culture and in xenografts. Thus, DHX29 is a bona fide translation initiation factor that potentially can be exploited as a target to inhibit cancer cell growth.