The Function And Mechanism Of Survivin Inducing Cell Transformation

The tumorigenesis in humans is a multistep process including genetic alterations and environmental contributions. Despite its genetic complexity and multifactoriality, two processes appear almost universally compromised in cancer: the control of cell cycle and apoptosis. For a tumor to become established, the irreversible progression of cell cycle and resistance to apoptosis play an important role. After a quarter century of rapid advances, cancer research has generated a rich and complex body of knowledge. There have been a great number of breakthroughs in the basic research of carcinogenesis. survivin is one of the most exciting discoveries. Although originally described as a protein that could inhibit apoptosis, survivin functions primarily in the regulation of cell division, a role conserved in the yeast and C.elegans BIRPs, whose BIR domains closely resemble that of survivin. survivin is expressed in mitosis, localizing in the midzone during anaphase, to ensure the completion of cytokinesis. survivin appears to be situated at the crossroads of apoptosis and cell division, governing the switch of both pathways.survivin has garnered great interests from the very beginning when it cloned mostly because of its specific expression. While fetal tissues contain abundant survivin mRNA and protein, most normal adult tissues do not. In contrast, the vast majority of tumors express survivin protein at high levels, thus making survivin an exciting tumor marker. Even more, the expression of survivin in patients with cancer predict poor prognosis. So survivin level is of significant diagnostic and prognostic value in human cancers. But the exact contribution of survivin to carcinogenesis is still unknown. The results by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR from some tumor samples indicated that survivin may correlate with some oncogenes overexpression and downregulation of tumor suppressor genes. These...