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Deconstructing Survivin: comprehensive genetic analysis of Survivin function by conditional knockout in a vertebrate cell line.

Authors :
Yue Z
Carvalho A
Xu Z
Yuan X
Cardinale S
Ribeiro S
Lai F
Ogawa H
Gudmundsdottir E
Gassmann R
Morrison CG
Ruchaud S
Earnshaw WC
Source :
The Journal of cell biology [J Cell Biol] 2008 Oct 20; Vol. 183 (2), pp. 279-96.
Publication Year :
2008

Abstract

Survivin is a key cellular protein thought to function in apoptotic regulation, mitotic progression, or possibly both. In this study, we describe the isolation of two conditional knockouts of the survivin gene in chicken DT40 cells. DT40 cells lacking Survivin die in interphase after failing to complete cytokinesis. However, these cells show normal sensitivity to the chemotherapeutic agent etoposide. Expression of Survivin mutants against a null background to reassess the role of several key residues reveals that DT40 cells can grow normally if their sole Survivin is missing a widely studied cyclin-dependent kinase phosphorylation site or sites reportedly essential for binding to Smac or aurora B. Mutations in the nuclear export sequence or dimerization interface render cells temperature sensitive for growth. As an important caveat for other studies in which protein function is studied by transient transfection, three of the Survivin mutants fail to localize in the presence of the wild-type protein but do localize and indeed support life in its absence.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1540-8140
Volume :
183
Issue :
2
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
The Journal of cell biology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
18936249
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200806118