The AURKA gene helps cells divide in an orderly way by guiding the machinery that pulls chromosomes apart during cell division. In medicine, this gene is important because if it becomes overactive or does not work properly, cells may divide unevenly and build up DNA errors that can support cancer growth. Higher activity of the AURKA gene has been linked to several cancers, including breast, ovarian, and colorectal cancers. The AURKA gene is better known in cancer research than in everyday public discussions about genes.
What is a gene?
Genes are stretches of DNA that carry instructions your cells use to make molecules or regulate processes in the body. Some genes provide the directions for producing proteins, the parts of cells that do the work. Other genes are mainly involved in controlling when certain processes happen, where they happen, and how active they are. Taken together, genes affect how the body develops and works, and they can also shape how you respond to food, stress, or medications. For a deeper look at this topic, you can learn more in the LearnHub.
Overview
AURKAGene function
What if the gene works
During cell division, the AURKA gene helps organize the structures that pull chromosomes apart. This supports accurate chromosome movement and steady growth as new cells form.
Risk
What if the gene does not work
When the AURKA gene works less well, cells may have trouble organizing the spindle, the structure that separates chromosomes during cell division. Milder variants may partly reduce this control, while more severe variants can disrupt it more strongly.
Treatment
What does that mean for your treatment
No AURKA-specific treatment or management approach is currently established in clinical guidelines for people with pathogenic variants in the AURKA gene. In cancer research, AURKA is being studied as a drug target, and AURKA-blocking medicines are under investigation in some tumors.
Gene function
What if the gene works
When a cell gets ready to split into two, the AURKA gene helps coordinate the timing and movement of that process. Its protein is most active during cell division, where it guides steps that organize the cell’s internal machinery. This steady control supports normal growth, tissue renewal, and early development.
The AURKA gene helps cells enter division at the right moment. Its protein works as a signaling switch by adding small chemical tags to other proteins, which helps start key division steps.
Before a cell splits, this gene helps organize the two poles that guide chromosome movement. It supports centrosomes (structures that help arrange the cell’s division machinery) so the spindle can form in the right place.
During mitosis (cell division), the AURKA gene helps build and steady the spindle, the set of fibers that moves chromosomes. This helps chromosomes line up and separate in an orderly way.
What is a variant?
A genetic variant is a slight change in the DNA sequence of a gene. These changes are common and are part of normal human diversity, including differences in appearance, metabolism, or how the body responds to environmental influences. Many variants do not cause any noticeable effect and simply represent natural genetic variation. Sometimes, though, a variant can change how a gene functions more substantially and may contribute to or cause a genetic condition.
Genetic variants
What if the gene does not work
How AURKA gene variants affect cell division depends on the change. Some variants slightly weaken the protein, while more disruptive variants can sharply reduce its enzyme activity, make it less stable, or prevent it from reaching the right place in a dividing cell. Other variants may increase activity or keep the protein active for too long, which can disrupt the structures that pull chromosomes apart.
How variants are linked to conditions
Variants in the AURKA gene do not yet have a broadly confirmed link to a specific inherited health condition, although research on how AURKA gene variants are linked to health conditions is still developing. If you carry an AURKA variant or have been told it may be relevant to your health, your doctor or genetic counselor can explain what that result means for you.
A variant is not necessarily a diagnosis
Genetic variants are a routine part of human biology and are widely found across the general population. Most do not directly affect health and instead reflect normal human diversity. In many genes, having a variant associated with a condition points to a possible link rather than a certain diagnosis, particularly when several genes and environmental influences play a role. There are cases, though, where one well-characterized variant in a particular gene is enough to confirm a diagnosis.
Are there things that can increase or change my risk?
There isn't yet broadly confirmed evidence on specific factors that clearly increase or reduce health risk related to the AURKA gene. Some changes in AURKA have been studied in cancer risk, but their effect can vary and is not strong enough to predict what will happen for any one person. Anyone worried about personal risk should speak with a doctor or genetic counselor.
Inheritance of AURKA variants
There is not yet a broadly confirmed Mendelian inheritance pattern for disease tied to the AURKA gene, so AURKA gene inheritance is not described as clearly autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or X linked in routine clinical genetics. Research has explored whether inherited AURKA variants may influence cancer risk in some families, but these findings do not establish a single, well accepted family pattern. The AURKA gene is located on chromosome 20, which is an autosome, so every person inherits one copy from each parent.
What does my AURKA result mean for my family?
There is not yet a broadly confirmed inherited pattern tied to a specific health condition for AURKA. If you have a specific AURKA result and questions about what it could mean for relatives, a doctor or genetic counselor can explain it in the context of your personal and family history.
Genetic information
Genetic testing
How you find out about variants
Genetic testing for AURKA variants uses a blood, saliva, or cheek swab sample to look for changes in the AURKA gene. A lab reads the gene’s DNA code and reports whether it finds a relevant variant, no relevant variant, or a change whose health effect is not yet clear.
When should I consider getting a genetic test?
There is not yet a widely established reason to have genetic testing just for the AURKA gene. Testing decisions are usually based on your own health history, a strong family history of cancer, and guidance from a doctor or genetic counselor.
A genetic result is only one part of your health story
A genetic result can provide valuable insight, but how much it reveals depends on the condition and the kind of variant involved. Many other factors, including lifestyle, environment, age, and medical history, also shape how the body functions over time. For some conditions, especially those influenced by many genes, genetic information offers context rather than certainty and is best understood as one part of overall care. In other situations, a genetic result may give a clear answer. In areas such as medication response, genetic results can also help put individual experiences into context.
Pharmacogenetics
How variants shape your response to medicine
Genetic variation can affect how your body responds to medicines. Some people break down a drug faster or slower than others, so the same treatment may work better for one person, have less effect in another, or cause more side effects. These differences are common and are one reason medication response can vary from person to person.
What is Pharmacogenetics?
Pharmacogenetics examines how genetic differences affect the way people respond to medications. It studies links between genes and drugs to help explain why the same treatment may work differently from one person to another. For many medicines, genes influence both how strongly a drug works and how the body handles it. This information can support more informed and more individualized treatment decisions. More on this topic is available in the LearnHub.
Drugs influenced by the AURKA gene
When should I seek medical advice?
There isn't yet a broadly confirmed role for this gene in guiding how medicines are chosen or used, so general questions about treatments or side effects are best discussed with your doctor. AURKA is being studied in cancer care as a possible marker of response to some targeted drugs, but this has not become routine medication guidance.
History
The AURKA gene entered genetics through fruit fly research, where related aurora genes were named for the striking spindle changes seen under the microscope, which resembled the northern lights. First described in the scientific literature as part of early genetics, this work helped connect cell division with inherited gene changes. From these first observations, research expanded steadily into human biology and cancer studies during the 1990s and early 2000s. Scientists then identified the human AURKA gene and explored its role in tumor growth, especially in breast, colon, and other solid cancers. Its history is closely tied to the rise of targeted cancer drug research, because AURKA became an early candidate for medicines aimed at cell division pathways. Over time, scientists’ understanding of the gene’s function has changed as laboratory methods became more precise.