Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2013, 14, 177-190; doi:10.3390/ijms14010177 OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Molecular Sciences ISSN 1422-0067 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms Review Changes in Translational Control after Pro-Apoptotic Stress Charline Lasfargues 1, Yvan Martineau 1, Corinne Bousquet 1 and Stéphane Pyronnet 1,2,* 1 INSERM UMR-1037 Université de Toulouse, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Toulouse (CRCT) and Laboratoire d’Excellence Toulouse Cancer, TOUCAN, Toulouse 31432, France; E-Mails:
[email protected] (C.L.);
[email protected] (Y.M.);
[email protected] (C.B.) 2 Centre Hospitalier de Toulouse, Pôle Digestif, Toulouse 31432, France * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +33-561-32-24-02. Received: 30 July 2012; in revised form: 6 November 2012 / Accepted: 10 December 2012 / Published: 21 December 2012 Abstract: In stressed cells, a general decrease in the rate of protein synthesis occurs due to modifications in the activity of translation initiation factors. Compelling data now indicate that these changes also permit a selective post-transcriptional expression of proteins necessary for either cell survival or completion of apoptosis when cells are exposed to severe or prolonged stress. In this review, we summarize the modifications that inhibit the activity of the main canonical translation initiation factors, and the data explaining how certain mRNAs encoding proteins involved in either cell survival or apoptosis can be selectively translated. Keywords: translation initiation; eIF2; eIF4F; 4E-BPs; apoptosis; uORF; IRES 1. Introduction Stress-induced apoptosis is a physiological mechanism of defense permitting the self-elimination of cells which cannot resolve damage caused by stress.