The regulation of protein translation and its implications for cancer

In addition to the deregulation of gene transcriptions and post-translational protein modifications, the aberrant translation from mRNAs to proteins plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various cancers. Targeting mRNA translation are expected to become potential approaches for anticancer treatments. Protein translation is affected by many factors including translation initiation factors and RNA-binding proteins. Recently, modifications of mRNAs mainly N6-methyladenine (m(6)A) modification and noncoding RNAs, such as microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs are involved. In this review, we generally summarized the recent advances on the regulation of protein translation by the interplay between mRNA modifications and ncRNAs. By doing so, we hope this review could offer some hints for the development of novel approaches in precision therapy of human cancers.