Ribosomopathies: Global process, tissue specific defects

Abstract

Disruptions in ribosomal biogenesis would be expected to have global and in fact lethal effects on a developing organism. However, mutations in ribosomal protein genes have been shown in to exhibit tissue specific defects. This seemingly contradictory finding - that globally expressed genes thought to play fundamental housekeeping functions can in fact exhibit tissue and cell type specific functions ‐ provides new insight into roles for ribosomes, the protein translational machinery of the cell, in regulating normal development and disease. Furthermore it illustrates the surprisingly dynamic nature of processes regulating cell type specific protein translation. In this review, we discuss our current knowledge of a variety of ribosomal protein mutations associated with human disease, and models to better understand the molecular mechanisms associated with each. We use specific examples to emphasize both the similarities and differences between the effects of various human ribosomal protein mutations. Finally, we discuss areas of future study that are needed to further our understanding of the role of ribosome biogenesis in normal development, and possible approaches that can be used to treat debilitating ribosomopathy diseases.

Keywords:

• anaemia
• ribosomopathy
• ribosome biogenesis
• skeletal defects

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Acknowledgments

We thank the Trainor, Baserga and Yelick Laboratories for thoughtful discussions and critical review of this manuscript.

Funding

this work was supported by grants from NIH/NIDCR RO1 DE (PCY), NIH RO1 GM52581 (SB), NIDCR (PAT) and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research (PAT).