Aurora C is directly associated with Survivin and required for cytokinesis

Much recent attention has been focused on Aurora C, the third member of the mammalian Aurora kinases family that plays significant roles in mitosis. We report here that using sensitive RT-PCR to amplify the C-terminal, we found that Aurora C is not only expressed highly in testis, but also among 16 other human tissues in a broad-spectrum way. Aurora C, as a chromosomal passenger protein, is co-localized with Aurora B and Survivin in mitotic cells. Aurora C can also be associated with Aurora B and Survivin in vivo and directly binds to Survivin but not Aurora B in vitro. Over-expression of a catalytically inactive mutant of Aurora C impaired the localization of Aurora C to the spindle midzone and severely disturbed the cytokinesis, resulting in multinucleation, all of which are consistent with the results induced by the mutant of Aurora B. Furthermore, we provide evidence that Aurora C could rescue the multinucleate phenotype produced by Aurora B mutant, and vice versa. Overall, these findings demonstrate that Aurora C, a member of the chromosomal passenger complex, is required for cytokinesis.