Ribosomal RACK1 promotes proliferation of neuroblastoma cells independently of global translation upregulation

Neuroblastoma is the most frequent solid tumor among those diagnosed during infancy and like most tumors, it is characterized by elevated rates of cell proliferation, migration and invasion. RACK1 is among the top 10 genes identified for unfavorable prognosis at 5 years in neuroblastoma cases and its depletion negatively affects proliferation, invasion and migration. Here, we show that the ribosomal localization of RACK1 modulates the proliferation of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells by regulating the expression of cell cycle genes, such as Cyclin D1, D3 and B1 independently of global translation increase. Ribosomal RACK1 is not involved in general protein synthesis, which is instead dependent on total RACK1 and PKC but independent from mTOR. Thus, ribosomal RACK1 may represent a new target to develop more efficient therapies for neuroblastoma treatment.