Survivin belongs to the inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs) protein
family which plays diverse roles in cell division, cell death
inhibition, as well as DNA repair. Elevated survivin expression is
found in most cancers and often indicates greater cancer aggression
and poor prognostic outcome for patients. Survivin expression is
also associated with resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy, and is
implicated in an increased likelihood for cancer relapse.
A recent study by Wang et al. (2019) describes a new link between
survivin and the ability of prostate cancer cells to elude killing
by radiation therapy. The researchers discovered that the
oncoprotein αvβ3 integrin, a cell surface
receptor with signaling pathways associated with cancer
pathogenesis, promotes radio-resistance by regulating survivin
levels. Specifically, they found that αvβ3
integrin increased cell survival and prevented the downregulation of
survivin expression in prostate cancer cells after exposure to
ionizing radiation. They went on to show that decreasing survivin
expression in αvβ3 integrin-expressing
prostate cancer cells sensitized the cells to radiation and
decreased cell growth and survival. They additionally showed that
overexpressing survivin in these cells was able to rescue growth and
survival after exposure to radiation.
Survivin has long been an attractive target for cancer treatment
because its expression is absent in fully differentiated adult
tissue but upregulated in cancer cells. Promising immunotherapeutic
strategies targeting survivin are in development, including SurVaxM,
a cancer vaccine currently in clinical trials. Anti-survivin
monoclonal antibodies were also found to have an antitumor effect
and even increase the lifespan of mice across various murine tumor
models (Fenstermaker, 2018). While more research is certainly needed
to better elucidate the connection between integrin signaling and
survivin expression, this study adds a new dimension to survivin’s
already complex signaling networks and highlights new opportunities
for therapy development.
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Survivin belongs to the inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs) protein
family which plays diverse roles in cell division, cell death
inhibition, as well as DNA repair. Elevated survivin expression is
found in most cancers and often indicates greater cancer aggression
and poor prognostic outcome for patients. Survivin expression is
also associated with resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy, and is
implicated in an increased likelihood for cancer relapse.
