Ribosome Biogenesis, Altered Metabolism and Ribotoxic Stress Response in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Tumor Microenvironment

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal malignancy with a poor overall survival rate. Cellular stress response pathways promoting cancer cell fitness in harsh tumor microenvironment (TME) play a critical role in cancer growth and survival. The influence of oncogenic Kras, multi-functional heterogeneous cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and immunosuppressive TME on cancer cells makes the disease more complex and difficult to treat. The desmoplastic reaction by CAFs comprises approximately 90% of the tumor, with only 10% of cancer cells making things even more complicated, resulting in therapy resistance. Consistently increasing fibrosis creates a hypoxic environment and elevated interstitial fluid pressure inside the tumor constraining vascular supply. Stress conditions in TME alter translation efficiency and metabolism to fulfill the energy requirements of rapidly growing cancer cells. Extensive research has been conducted on multiple molecular and metabolic regulators in PDAC TME. However, the role of TME in influencing translation programs, a prerequisite for cell cycle progression and functional/growth requirements for cancer cells, remains elusive. This review highlights the recent advancements in understanding altered translational programs in PDAC TME. We emphasize the role of ribosome biogenesis, ribosome-induced stress response, and the concept of specialized ribosomes and their probable role in mutationally rewiring the pancreatic TME.