SignalSilence ® Survivin siRNA II

Survivin is a 16 kDa anti-apoptotic protein highly expressed during fetal development and cancer cell malignancy (1). Survivin binds and inhibits caspase-3, controlling the checkpoint in the G2/M-phase of the cell cycle by inhibiting apoptosis and promoting cell division (2,3). This regulatory process requires the phosphorylation of survivin at Thr34 by p34 cdc2 kinase (4). Gene targeting using a Thr34 phosphorylation-defective survivin mutant, as well as antisense survivin, have been shown to inhibit tumor growth (5,6). 1.Reed, J.C. and Reed, S.I. (1999) Nature Cell Biol. 1, 199-200. 2.Li, F. et al. (1998) Nature 396, 580-584. 3.Li, F. et al. (1999) Nat. Cell Biol. 1, 461-466. 4.O'Connor, D.S. et al. (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97, 13103-13107. 5.Olie, R.A. et al. (2000) Cancer Res. 60, 2805-2809. 6.Grossman, D. et al. (2001) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98, 635-640.