Abstract:
Aurora-C is the third member of the aurora serine/threonine kinase family and was found only
in mammals. Because Aurora-C is overexpressed in many different types of cancer cells we
decided to analyze the consequences of Aurora-C overexpression in human cells. We first
investigated the subcellular localization of overexpressed GFP-Aurora-C in mitosis and
interphase in HeLa cells. As expected, during mitosis, we found that Aurora-C mimics
Aurora-B. Surprisingly, in few interphase cells, we found that Aurora-C localized to the
centrosome, like Aurora-A. We then examined the phenotype generated by Aurora-C
overexpression. Basically it looked similar to the phenotypes observed after overexpression of
the other Aurora kinases. We observed an augmentation of polyploid cells containing more
than two centrosomes. More interestingly this phenotype was aggravated in the absence of a
functional p53. Although the physiological function of Aurora-C in somatic cells remains to
be clarified, our results, just like for the two other Aurora kinases, raised the question of a role
of Aurora-C in the development and progression of cancer especially in the presence of
mutated p53.