The BIRC5 protein functions to inhibit caspase activation, thereby leading to negative regulation of apoptosis or programmed cell death. This has been shown by disruption of survivin induction pathways leading to increase in apoptosis and decrease in tumour growth. The BIRC5 protein is expressed highly in most human tumours and fetal tissue, but is completely absent in terminally differentiated cells.This fact therefore makes BIRC5 an ideal target for cancer therapy as cancer cells are targeted while normal cells are left alone. BIRC5 expression is also highly regulated by the cell cycle and is only expressed in the G2-M phase. It is known that BIRC5 localizes to the mitotic spindle by interaction with tubulin during mitosis and may play a contributing role in regulating mitosis. The molecular mechanisms of BIRC5 regulation are still not well understood, but regulation of BIRC5 seems to be linked to the p53 protein. It also is a direct target gene of the Wnt pathway and is upregulated by beta-catenin.
BIRC5的family為BIRC1~7
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