It has long been considered that intron-containing (spliced) mRNAs are translationally more active than intronless mRNAs (identical mRNA not produced by splicing). The splicing-dependent translational enhancement is mediated, in part, by the exon junction complex (EJC). Nonetheless, the molecular mechanism by which each EJC component contributes to the translational enhancement remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate the previously unappreciated role of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4AIII (eIF4AIII), a component of EJC, in the translation of mRNAs bound by the nuclear cap-binding complex (CBC), a heterodimer of cap-binding protein 80 (CBP80) and CBP20. eIF4AIII is recruited to the 5′-end of mRNAs bound by the CBC by direct interaction with the CBCdependent translation initiation factor (CTIF); this recruitment of eIF4AIII is independent of the presence of introns (deposited EJCs after splicing). Polysome fractionation, tethering experiments, and in vitro reconstitution experiments using recombinant proteins show that eIF4AIII promotes efficient unwinding of secondary structures in 5′UTR, and consequently enhances CBC-dependent translation in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, our data provide evidence that eIF4AIII is a specific translation initiation factor for CBC-dependent translation.eIF4AIII | cap-binding complex | translation | CTIF | nonsense-mediated mRNA decay I n mammalian cells, translation initiation is driven by two major cap-binding proteins (CBPs). One is the nuclear cap-binding complex (CBC), which is a heterodimer of nuclear CBP80 and CBP20 (CBP80/20) (1), and the other is the eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF) 4E, which is a major cytoplasmic CBP (2). The CBC binds the 5′-cap structure of a newly synthesized mRNA in the nucleus and then directly interacts with an eIF4G-like scaffold protein called CBP80/20-dependent translation initiation factor (CTIF) (3). Because CTIF is mostly present on the cytoplasmic side of the nuclear envelope and is found in the nucleus (3), the interaction between the CBC and CTIF may occur either in the nucleus or during mRNA export through the nuclear pore complex. In the cytoplasm, at the 5′-end of mRNA, the CBC-CTIF complex recruits the eIF3 complex (4) and then the 40S small subunit of the ribosome, thereby directing the socalled "first" (or pioneer) round of translation (1).Translation of a CBC-bound mRNA precedes that of the eIF4E-bound mRNA, because the CBC-bound mRNA is a precursor form of the eIF4E-bound mRNA (5). The timing of the replacement of the CBC by eIF4E has not yet been elucidated; however, it is known that the replacement is mediated by the action of importin α/β in a translation-independent manner (6). The replaced eIF4E at the 5′-end of mRNA recruits a scaffold protein, eIF4GI or eIF4GII, which recruits eIF3 and eIF4AI/II and, eventually, the 40S ribosomal subunit. Then, the recruited 40S subunit scans the mRNA until it reaches the authentic translation initiation codon AUG. Efficient ribosome scanning requires either eIF4AI or e...