Overexpression of apoptosis-related protein, survivin, in fibroblasts from patients with systemic sclerosis

Background/objectives Recent studies suggest that, in addition to activation and hypersecretion of matrix components, fibroblasts from patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) are resistant to apoptosis. Previous studies have shown that survivin, a member of inhibition of apoptosis (IAP) family, plays an important role in apoptosis resistance. Accordingly, we decided to study the expression of the most important members of IAP family in SSc fibroblasts, which can block apoptosis either by binding and inhibiting caspases or through caspase-independent mechanisms.