As negative modulators of
G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) signaling, regulators of
G protein signaling (
RGS) proteins facilitate various downstream cellular signalings through regulating kinds of
heterotrimeric G proteins by stimulating the
guanosine triphosphatase (
GTPase) activity of
G-protein α (Gα) subunits. The expression of
RGS proteins is dynamically and precisely mediated by several different mechanisms including epigenetic regulation, transcriptional regulation -and post-translational regulation. Emerging evidence has shown that
RGS proteins act as important mediators in controlling essential cellular processes including cell proliferation, survival -and death via regulating downstream cellular signaling activities, indicating that
RGS proteins are fundamentally involved in sustaining normal physiological functions and dysregulation of
RGS proteins (such as aberrant expression of
RGS proteins) is closely associated with pathologies of many diseases such as
cancer. In this review, we summarize the molecular mechanisms governing the expression of
RGS proteins, and further discuss the relationship of
RGS proteins and
cancer.