Survivin, human recombinant

Survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family, is also called baculoviral inhibitor of apoptosis repeat-containing 5 or BIRC5 and in humans is encoded by the BIRC5 gene. The survivin protein functions to inhibit caspase activation, thereby leading to negative regulation of apoptosis. Disruption of survivin induction pathways leads to an increase in apoptosis and decrease in tumour growth. Survivin is highly expressed in most human tumours and fetal tissue, but is completely absent in terminally differentiated cells, making survivin an ideal target for studying cancer therapy.