We have previously shown that translation driven by the 5' UTR of Apaf-1 mRNA is relatively efficient in the absence of m7G-cap, but no IRES is involved. Nevertheless, it may be speculated that a "silent" IRES is activated under apoptosis conditions. Here, we show that translation of the mRNA with the Apaf-1 5' UTR is relatively resistant to apoptosis induced by etoposide when eIF4E is sequestered by 4E-BP and eIF4G is partially cleaved. However, translation under these conditions remains governed by 5' end-dependent scanning. We hypothesize that the observed phenomenon is based on the intrinsic low cap-dependence of the Apaf-1 5' UTR.