Cancer cells rely on cap-dependent translation of oncogenic mRNA transcripts.34,35 Pro-tumorigenic transcripts exhibit 5′ untranslated regions (UTRs) and high GC content, giving rise to mRNA secondary structures (such as G-quadruplexes) that require unwinding by the eIF4F complex helicase eIF4A.36 Analysis of mRNA transcripts corresponding to human-specific proteins enriched in xenografted AML cells revealed high GC content, which was not detected in transcripts encoding for mouse proteins derived from the host (Figure 3F, left). Here, EIF4A1 is linked to acute myeloid leukemia.