The R2TP chaperone complex: its involvement in snoRNP assembly and tumorigenesis.

R2TP was originally identified in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as Hsp90 interacting complex, and is composed of four different proteins: Rvb1, Rvb2, Tah1, and Pih1. This complex is well-conserved in eukaryotes, and is involved in many cellular processes such as snoRNP biogenesis, RNA polymerase assembly, PIKK signaling, and apoptosis. An increasing number of research related to R2TP suggests a linkage of its function with tumorigenesis. In this review, we provide an overview of several recent studies on R2TP that are related to cell proliferation and carcinogenesis, and propose a possible role of R2TP in tumorigenesis through regulating snoRNA/snoRNP biogenesis.