title: Characterisation of the anti-apoptotic function of survivin-DeltaEx3 during TNFalpha-mediated cell death.
abstract: Survivin is an oncogenic protein involved in cell division and acts as an anti-apoptotic factor. It is highly expressed in most cancers and is associated with chemotherapy resistance, increased tumour recurrence, and shorter patient survival. This makes anti-survivin therapy an attractive cancer treatment strategy. These functions are mediated by several survivin spliced variants, whose expression may correlate with cancer progression. One of the spliced variants, survivin-DeltaEx3, is known to inhibit apoptosis, through undefined mechanisms. Here, we characterised these mechanisms upon TNFalpha-mediated apoptosis, and showed that survivin-DeltaEx3 acts as an adaptor, allowing the formation of a complex between Bcl-2 and activated caspase-3. The Bcl-2/survivin-DeltaEx3 complex, but not survivin-DeltaEx3 itself, inhibits the activity of caspase-3. Bcl-2 is therefore linked to the postmitochondrial apoptotic machinery by survivin-DeltaEx3. Thus, survivin-DeltaEx3 plays a key role in the inhibition of caspase-3 activity, and in the control of the mitochondrial checkpoint of apoptosis. This study suggests that targeting survivin-DeltaEx3, rather than survivin alone, could be relevant for treating human cancers.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK Viral Oncology Group, Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, University College, London, UK.
authors.forename: M-H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Malcles
authors.forename: H-W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koumi
authors.forename: Y-H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Godfrey
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boshoff
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D011485:Protein Binding; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D000077022:Survivin; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: C107489:BIRC5 protein, human; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D000077022:Survivin; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D053148:Caspase 3