X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), survivin, and BRUCE are members of the inhibitor-of-apoptosis protein (IAP) family known for their inhibitory effects on caspase activity and dysregulation of these molecules has widely been shown to cause embryonic defects and to promote tumorigenesis in human. Besides the anti-apoptotic functions, recent discoveries have revealed that XIAP, survivin, and BRUCE also exhibit regulatory functions for autophagy in cells. As the role of autophagy in human diseases has already been discussed extensively in different reviews; in this review, we will discuss the emerging autophagic role of XIAP, survivin, and BRUCE in cancer cells. We also provide an update on the anti-apoptotic functions and the roles in maintaining DNA integrity of these molecules. Second mitochondria-derived activator of caspases (Smac) is a pro-apoptotic protein and IAPs are the molecular targets of various Smac mimetics currently under clinical trials. Better understanding on the functions of XIAP, survivin, and BRUCE can enable us to predict possible side effects of these drugs and to design a more “patient-specific” clinical trial for Smac mimetics in the future.

中文翻译：

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自噬世界中的抗凋亡蛋白：XIAP，Survivin和BRUCE功能的更新

X连锁的凋亡蛋白（XIAP），survivin和BRUCE抑制剂是凋亡抑制蛋白（IAP）家族的成员，以其对caspase活性的抑制作用而著称，这些分子的失调已广泛导致胚胎缺陷并促进人类肿瘤发生。除了抗凋亡功能外，最近的发现还表明XIAP，survivin和BRUCE还具有调控细胞自噬的功能。自噬在人类疾病中的作用已经在不同的综述中进行了广泛的讨论。在这篇综述中，我们将讨论XIAP，survivin和BRUCE在癌细胞中的新兴自噬作用。我们还提供了有关抗凋亡功能以及维持这些分子DNA完整性的作用的更新。半胱氨酸蛋白酶的第二个线粒体激活因子（Smac）是促凋亡蛋白，而IAP是目前正在临床试验中的各种Smac模拟物的分子靶标。对XIAP，survivin和BRUCE的功能有更深入的了解，可以使我们预测这些药物的可能副作用，并为将来的Smac模拟物设计更“针对患者的”临床试验。