title: Dynamic intracellular survivin in oral squamous cell carcinoma: underlying molecular mechanism and potential as an early prognostic marker.
abstract: Survivin functions as an apoptosis inhibitor and a regulator of cell division in many tumours. The intracellular localization of survivin in tumours has been suggested as a prognostic marker. However, current reports are inconsistent and the underlying molecular mechanisms are not understood. The present study has examined the localization and prognostic value of nuclear and cytoplasmic survivin in the pre-therapeutic biopsies from 71 oral and oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma (OSCC) patients. Statistical analysis indicated that preferential nuclear versus cytoplasmic survivin correlated with favourable versus unfavourable disease outcome. Uni- and multi-variate analysis showed that in contrast to total survivin expression, the difference between nuclear and cytoplasmic survivin was a strong predictor for relapse-free survival (p=0.0003). As a potential underlying molecular mechanism, it is shown in OSCC cell lines that predominantly cytoplasmic survivin mediates protection against chemo- and radio-therapy-induced apoptosis. Importantly, the cytoplasmic localization of survivin is regulated by its nuclear export signal (NES), and export-deficient nuclear survivin is not cytoprotective. This study suggests that the difference between cytoplasmic and nuclear survivin is an indicator for survivin activity in tumour cells. Thus, this difference may serve as a predictive marker of outcome in OSCC patients undergoing multi-modality therapy. The pharmacogenetic interference with survivin's cytoplasmic localization is also to be pursued as a potential therapeutic strategy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University Hospital of Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Engels
authors.affiliation: Georg-Speyer-Haus, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Knauer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Informatics, University of Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Metzler
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Plastic Surgery, University Hospital of Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simf
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Plastic Surgery, University Hospital of Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Struschka
authors.affiliation: Georg-Speyer-Haus, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bier
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University Hospital of Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.affiliation: Institute for Informatics, University of Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Kovács
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University Hospital of Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Stauber
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000032:analysis*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000737:chemistry; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D028884:Karyopherins / Q000032:analysis; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D049790:Nuclear Export Signals / Q000502:physiology; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy; D011379:Prognosis; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000032:analysis; D000077022:Survivin; D000097606:Exportin 1 Protein
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D028884:Karyopherins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D049790:Nuclear Export Signals; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; D000077022:Survivin; D000097606:Exportin 1 Protein; C107489:BIRC5 protein, human