title: Survivin splice variants and their diagnostic significance.
abstract: Survivin plays a crucial role in cell division particularly during the development of the fetus, in the onset and progression of most tumors and is found expressed in a few terminally differentiated cells. Altogether, there are ten splice variants of survivin, some of which are not yet satisfactorily characterized. Several isoforms may undergo homo/heterodimerization, particularly with the wild-type survivin to elicit a variety of biological functions. The detection of survivin and its splice variants not only suggests the onset, maintenance, and progression of cancer, but also the stage of certain cancers. Recent studies demonstrate that the presence of survivin in urine and blood samples of patients may suggest urogenital and bladder cancer hematologic malignancies, respectively. The expression of the survivin-3α splice variant is indicative of the onset and progression of breast cancer. Several companies have developed cancer diagnostic kits using survivin for detection of cancer. Some are also engaged in fine-tuning the type and stage-specific diagnosis of cancer based on survivin, its splice variants with and without other markers, such as hyaluronidase. Briefly, survivin and its splice variants hold a great biological significance, particularly in the diagnosis of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences (Botany), T. N. B. College, Bhagalpur (T M Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur), Bhagalpur, 812007, India. nandksah1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nand K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Sah
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV47AL, UK. c.seniya@warwick.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Chandrabhan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Seniya
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000652:urine; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000652:urine*; D012326:RNA Splicing / Q000235:genetics*; D000077022:Survivin; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C107489:BIRC5 protein, human; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D000077022:Survivin; C495901:TP53 protein, human; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
keywords: Cancer; Diagnosis; Splice variants; Survivin; p53