Progress in studies on nucleolus functions

Nucleoli is the sites for ribosome synthesis and processing, however, recent approaches have revealed that it is also involved in variety of cellular processes, especially the cellular stress response. As sensors, nucleoli regulate the localization of nucleolar proteins, such as (Alternate Reading Frame, ARF), and the activation of key factors, such as P53, and consequently mediate the cellular stress response.In this paper, recent progress in the studies on nucleolar functions in cellular stress response to radiation is reviewed. (authors)