Introduction
The Altieri laboratory studies a family of genes, known as Inhibitors of Apoptosis (IAP), that are essential for the cell life cycle to run smoothly. In normal cells, the proteins these genes produce are thought to prevent apoptosis during normal cell division and the direct inhibition of caspases—the enzymes chiefly responsible for promoting apoptosis—in cells. In particular, Dr. Altieri has demonstrated that at least one IAP gene, called survivin, retains the ability to participate in both functions, and has been shown to be over-produced in virtually every human cancer.
