Survivin: A target from brain cancer to neurodegenerative disease

Abstract

Apoptosis is an important contributing factor during neuronal death in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and sciatic nerve injury. Whereas several clinical and preclinical studies have focused on the neuroprotective effects of caspase inhibitors, their clinical benefits are still unclear. Here, we discuss novel alternative strategies to protect neuronal cells from apoptotic death using members of the inhibitors of apoptosis (IAP) family. We specifically review the different roles of survivin, which is an important member of the IAP family that serves a dual role in the inhibition of apoptosis as well as a vital role in mitosis and cell division. Due to the various roles of survivin during cell division and apoptosis, targeting this protein illustrates a new therapeutic window for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Keywords::

• survivin
• neurodegenerative disease
• apoptosis
• neuroprotection
• apoptosis inhibitor protein

Acknowledgement

Sara Baratchi is a recipient of Australia Endeavour Postgraduate award.

Declaration of interest

This work was supported by Department of Innovation Industry Science, Research, and Commonwealth of Australia (BF030016). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Editor: Michael M. Cox