2017 Volume 2 Issue 1 Pages 7-15
Ribosome, a ribonucleoprotein complex huge enough to be visible with light microscopy, is essential for protein synthesis and for the survival of almost all cells. The cells consume 70–80% of the total substances and energy used during their multiplication just for ribosome biogenesis. It has currently shown that ribosome biogenesis is closely linked to cell proliferation, cell growth/cell cycle control, aging/stress response, and actions of oncogenes and growth factors. Analysis of human ribosome biosynthesis was hampered by the lack of the technologies analyzing very complicated processes involving hundreds of proteins and RNAs until recent years. Along with the progress of proteomics, the technique for isolating protein complexes, and that for large-scale identification and quantification of proteins have dramatically improved. Identification of components of ribosome synthesis intermediates in human cells and their functional analyses have rapidly progressed, and the biosynthesis pathway of human cells and its regulatory mechanism are becoming clear. In this review, we will outline the current status of the analyses of the ribosome biosynthesis and of its control mechanism in human cells.
