CCAR2 (cell cycle and apoptosis regulator 2) controls a variety of cellular functions; however, its main function is to regulate cell survival and cell death in response to genotoxic and metabolic stresses. Recently, we reported that CCAR2 protects cells from apoptosis following mitochondrial stress, possibly by co-operating with Hsp60. However, it is not clear how CCAR2 and Hsp60 control cell survival and death. Here, we found that depleting CCAR2 and Hsp60 downregulated expression of survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family. Survivin expression in neuroblastoma tissues and human cancer cell lines correlated positively with expression of CCAR2 and Hsp60. Furthermore, high expression of CCAR2, Hsp60, and survivin was associated with poor survival of neuroblastoma patients. In summary, both CCAR2 and Hsp60 are required for expression of survivin, and both promote cancer cell survival, at least in part, by maintaining survivin expression. Therefore, CCAR2, Hsp60, and survivin are candidate tumor biomarkers and prognostic markers in neuroblastomas.
Keywords: CCAR2; Hsp60; apoptosis; neuroblastoma; survival; survivin.