Abstract 2555: Aberrantly expressed AURKC increases tumorigenicity in cancer cells

Abstract

Abstract Aurora-C (AURKC) belongs to the Aurora kinase family, which regulates many important events of the cell cycle. Aberrantly expressed Aurora kinases were demonstrated to be correlated with tumorigenesis. Recently, overexpression of AURKC was detected in human primary colorectal cancers, thyroid carcinoma, and several cancer cell lines. However, the regulation of and clinical index for overexpressed AURKC in somatic cancer cells are unclear. Herein, we showed that AURKC has an augmented expression in human cervical cancer with a statistical significance in its development. Overexpressed AURKC increases the proliferation, transformation, and migration activities in cultured cancer cells and in a xenograft model. Importantly, the kinase activity of AURKC is required for its ability of tumorigenesis. A reporter assay and Western blot analysis further demonstrated that PLZF, a transcriptional repressor, serves as a negative regulator for AURKC. The expressions of PLZF and AURKC mRNA in human cervical cancer displayed opposite patterns. Ectopically expressed HA-PLZF specifically repressed the expression of human AURKC, but not other Aurora kinase members, through recruitment to its promoter region. Taken together, our results provide important insights into human cervical cancer and AURKC expression, which may serve as a potential target for human cervical cancer therapy in the future. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2555. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2555