Encoded by EEF1A1, the eukaryotic translation elongation factor eEF1α1 strongly promotes the heat shock response, which protects cancer cells from proteotoxic stress, following for instance oxidative stress, hypoxia or aneuploidy.
Reciprocal relationship of differential expression between EEF1A isoforms observed in multiple cancer types indicates opposing roles in cancer and needs further investigation.
Given that deregulated mRNA translation is a frequent feature of cancer and that eEF1A1 is highly expressed in many human tumours, these findings present new possibilities for the therapeutic targeting of EZH2 in AML.
Nannocystin A (1) displayed differential activity across various cancer cell lines and EEF1A1 expression levels appear to be the main differentiating factor.