Jiangsu Center for the Collaboration and Innovation of Cancer Biotherapy, Cancer Institute, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, 221002, China.
Department of Urology Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, 221002, China.
Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2018 May;98:89-92. doi: 10.1016/j.biocel.2018.03.007. Epub 2018 Mar 12.
Aurora kinase A (Aurora-A), a member of the Aurora family of serine/threonine kinases, plays a critical role in multiple steps of mitotic progression, including microtubule stability during the G1 phase of the cell cycle, chromosome alignment and segregation, and cytokinesis and is aberrantly expressed in various types of human cancers. In addition to its classic functions, recent studies have indicated that Aurora-A is critical for controlling self-renewal of embryonic stem cells through negative regulation of p53. Additionally, aberrant expression of Aurora-A contributes to oncogenic transformation and induces stem cell-like properties in estrogen receptor α-positive breast cancer cells. Silencing of Aurora-A has been implicated in elimination of leukemia stem cells in vivo. Therefore, Aurora-A is an attractive target for cancer therapeutics and a growing number of small molecule inhibitors of Aurora-A have been developed. In the present review, we will address the role of Aurora-A in cancer stem cells, as well as the outcomes of clinical trials assessing Aurora-A-specific small molecular inhibitors.
极光激酶 A（Aurora-A）是丝氨酸/苏氨酸激酶 Aurora 家族的成员，在有丝分裂进程的多个步骤中发挥关键作用，包括细胞周期 G1 期的微管稳定性、染色体排列和分离以及胞质分裂，并且在各种类型的人类癌症中异常表达。除了其经典功能外，最近的研究表明，Aurora-A 通过负向调控 p53 对于控制胚胎干细胞的自我更新至关重要。此外，Aurora-A 的异常表达导致致瘤转化，并诱导雌激素受体 α 阳性乳腺癌细胞具有干细胞样特性。沉默 Aurora-A 已被证明可在体内消除白血病干细胞。因此，Aurora-A 是癌症治疗的一个有吸引力的靶点，并且已经开发出越来越多的 Aurora-A 小分子抑制剂。在本综述中，我们将讨论 Aurora-A 在癌症干细胞中的作用，以及评估 Aurora-A 特异性小分子抑制剂的临床试验结果。
