RBM24 in the Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Cancer Progression: Anti-Tumor or Pro-Tumor Activity?

Abstract

RNA-binding proteins are critical post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. They are implicated in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes by modulating nearly every aspect of RNA metabolisms. Alterations in their expression and function disrupt tissue homeostasis and lead to the occurrence of various cancers. RBM24 is a highly conserved protein that binds to a large spectrum of target mRNAs and regulates many post-transcriptional events ranging from pre-mRNA splicing to mRNA stability, polyadenylation and translation. Studies using different animal models indicate that it plays an essential role in promoting cellular differentiation during organogenesis and tissue regeneration. Evidence is also accumulating that its dysregulation frequently occurs across human cancers. In several tissues, RBM24 clearly functions as a tumor suppressor, which is consistent with its inhibitory potential on cell proliferation. However, upregulation of RBM24 in other cancers appears to promote tumor growth. There is a possibility that RBM24 displays both anti-tumor and pro-tumor activities, which may be regulated in part through differential interactions with its protein partners and by its post-translational modifications. This makes it a potential biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis, as well as a therapeutic target for cancer treatment. The challenge remains to determine the post-transcriptional mechanisms by which RBM24 modulates gene expression and tumor progression in a context- or background-dependent manner. This review discusses recent findings on the potential function of RBM24 in tumorigenesis and provides future directions for better understanding its regulatory role in cancer cells.

RBM24 inhibits the translation of SARS-CoV-2 polyproteins by targeting the 5ʹ-untranslated region

“…Though our results suggest RBM24 as an anti-SARS-CoV-2 target, the detail mechanism of RBM24 in virus replication needs more deep investigation. RBM24 was supposed to be a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment ( Shi, 2022 ), And different efforts such as small molecule inhibitors, siRNA, peptides and CRISPR-based therapies had been made to target RBP functions for cancer therapy ( Mehta et al, 2022 ). However, how to deliver the drugs to specific tissues with minimal cytotoxicity to normal cells is the main question, which is the same for the antivirus purpose.…”

YAP1-induced RBM24 promotes the tumorigenesis of triple-negative breast cancer through the β-catenin pathway

“…RBM24 belongs to the family of RNA-binding proteins and can regulate a number of target gene expression through post-transcriptional mechanisms such as pre-mRNA splicing, mRNA stability alteration, polyadenylation, and translation. 13,14 Lu et al 15 reported that RBM24 promotes cardiac myofibrillogenesis by modulating ACTN2 mRNA alternative splicing. In addition to regulation of cell differentiation, 14,15 RBM24 also affects tumor progression.…”

PABPC1——mRNA stability, protein translation and tumorigenesis

“…RBPs play a key role in regulating various RNA processes through both temporal and spatial regulation of expression in membranes or phase-separated subcellular compartments of dynamic shuttling, interactions with specific protein partners and RNA targets, and control of all metabolic processes of RNA. This includes splicing, cleavage and polyadenylation as well as translocation, translation and degradation of coding RNAs, non-coding RNAs and microRNAs (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). Recent studies have shown that RBPs not only play important roles in normal cells, but also become major players in cancer development and proliferation (8,9).…”