# AURKA

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/aurka/  
OnCo record `aurka` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

AURKA (Aurora kinase A) is a protein kinase, an enzyme that switches other proteins on by adding phosphate groups. The public catalogues list it as a drug target and a biomarker, and clinical evidence ties its variants to diagnosis, prognosis or drug response. Tied to Oesophageal cancer, Ovarian cancer and Non-small-cell lung cancer.

## Summary

Mitotic serine/threonine kinase that contributes to the regulation of cell cycle progression. Associates with the centrosome and the spindle microtubules during mitosis and plays a critical role in various mitotic events including the establishment of mitotic spindle, centrosome duplication, centrosome separation as well as maturation, chromosomal alignment, spindle assembly checkpoint, and cytokinesis. Required for normal spindle positioning during mitosis and for the localisation of NUMA1 and DCTN1 to the cell cortex during metaphase.

CIViC holds 7 clinical evidence items and 0 assertions across 3 variants, naming Cisplatin, Alisertib, Paclitaxel and Platinum Compound and others.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: aurora kinase A; Aurora kinase A; AurA; STK7; ARK1; PPP1R47; STK15; STK6
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: AURKA
- Class: kinase
- Biology: Mitotic serine/threonine kinase that contributes to the regulation of cell cycle progression. Associates with the centrosome and the spindle microtubules during mitosis and plays a critical role in various mitotic events including the establishment of mitotic spindle, centrosome duplication, centrosome separation as well as maturation, chromosomal alignment, spindle assembly checkpoint, and cytokinesis. Required for normal spindle positioning during mitosis and for the localisation of NUMA1 and DCTN1 to the cell cortex during metaphase. Required for initial activation of CDK1 at centrosomes. Phosphorylates numerous target proteins, including ARHGEF2, BORA, BRCA1, CDC25B, DLGP5, HDAC6, KIF2A, LATS2, NDEL1, PARD3, PPP1R2, PLK1, RASSF1, TACC3, p53/TP53 and TPX2. Phosphorylates MCRS1 which is required for MCRS1-mediated kinetochore fibre assembly and mitotic progression. Location: Cytoplasm, cytoskeleton, microtubule organizing center, centrosome; Cytoplasm, cytoskeleton, spindle pole; Cytoplasm, cytoskeleton, microtubule organizing center, centrosome, centriole; Cell projection, neuron projection (UniProt). Locus 20q13.2 (HGNC).
- Where found: Oesophageal cancer: CIViC evidence names this disease; Ovarian cancer: CIViC evidence names this disease; Non-small-cell lung cancer: CIViC evidence names this disease

## Notes

- Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: CIViC lists 6 therapies; CIViC holds 7 clinical evidence items on its variants. Evidence tier "clinical-evidence" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.
- Diseases the sources name that have no OnCo cancer page yet, so they are not linked: Cervical Adenocarcinoma.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:11393: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:11393
- UniProt O14965: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/O14965/entry
- NCBI Gene 6790: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/6790
- Ensembl ENSG00000087586: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000087586

## Connected records

- collections: [CIViC](https://onco.cc/collections/civic/)
- cancers: [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/), [Oesophageal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/esophageal/), [Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/)
- pathways: [MYC](https://onco.cc/pathways/myc/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/aurka.json