[Aurora kinases and cancer].

Aurora kinases are highly conserved in eukaryotes and involved in many processes during cell division. Three Aurora kinases have been identified in humans and designated as Aurora-A, -B, and -C. Aurora A regulates centrosome function during M phase through its interactions with various cell cycle regulators including TACC, chTOG, Ajuba, BRCA1, LATS2, and p53. Aurora-B localizes at the kinetochore from G2 to metaphase, and relocates to the midbody after anaphase. Aurora-B plays roles in spindle dynamics, chromosome condensation, and cytokinesis by interacting with many proteins such as INCENP, Survivin, CENP-A, MgcRacGAP, and intermediate filaments. Overexpression of both Aurora-A and -B proteins is frequently observed in various human cancer tissues, and a common coding region polymorphism in aurora-A affects the risk of breast or esophageal cancer. Ectopic overexpression of Aurora-A or -B protein leads to aneuploid cells. The cells overexpressing active Aurora A or wildtype Aurora-B are tumorigenic in nude mice.