Aurora kinases

Aurora kinase family of serine/threonine kinases, frequently overexpressed in human cancers and implicated in tumorigenesis, induce chromosomal instability and oncogenic transformation when expressed at elevated levels in mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo. Recent findings on the interactions of Aurora kinases with tumor suppressor gene and oncogene-regulated networks as well as involvement in other nonmitotic processes such as ciliary disassembly affecting important signaling pathways and developmental disorders termed ciliopathies, have led to a greater recognition of the functional significance of these kinases in development and disease. Among the three members of the kinase family, Aurora- A, -B, and -C identified in humans, Aurora-A and -B have been reported to express at detectable levels in most proliferating somatic cells and characterized in detail for their involvement in cellular pathways relevant to cell proliferation and development of cancer-associated phenotypes. As a result, Aurora-A and -B are being investigated as potential targets for cancer therapy and multiple agents targeting the kinases are in early phase clinical trials with some having yielded encouraging results. This chapter discusses functional involvement of Aurora kinase-A and -B in the regulation of cell proliferation and cancer-relevant cellular pathways validating their significance as cancer therapeutic targets.