• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1489-1495
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• 2014

Wnt is a powerful signaling pathway that plays a crucial role in cell fate determination, survival, proliferation and motility during development, in adult tissues and cancer. The aims of the present study were three fold: i) to assess Wnt11 immunoexpression and its possible relationship with Wnt5a in high- and low-grade human serous ovarian cancer (HGSC and LGSC) specimens; ii) to assess Wnt11 expression levels in Wnt5a overexpressing SKOV-3 cells; iii) to reveal the role of Wnt11 in viability, adhesion, migration and invasion of SKOV-3 cells using recombinant human Wnt11 (rhWnt11). Immunohistochemistry revealed a significant difference in Wnt11 expression between HGSC and LGSC groups (p=0.001). Moreover, a positive correlation was observed between Wnt5a and Wnt11 expression in the HGSC (r=0.713, p=0.001), but not the LGSC group. The expression of Wnt11 was decreased by 35% in Wnt5a overexpressing cells (SKOV-3/Wnt5a) compared to mock controls. Similarly Wnt11 expression levels were decreased by 47% in the presence of exogenous Wnt5a compared to untreated cells. In the presence of rhWnt11, 31% increased cell viability (p<0.001) and 21% increased cell adhesion to matrigel (p<0.01) were observed compared to control. Cell migration was increased by 1.6-fold with rhWnt11 as revealed by transwell migration assay (p<0.001). However, 45% decreased cell invasion was observed in the presence of rhWnt11 compared to control (p<0.01). Our results may suggest that differential Wnt11 immunoexpression in HGSC compared to LGSC could play important roles in serous ovarian cancer progression and may be modulated by Wnt5a expression levels.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3977-3982
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• 2012

Inhibitors of histone deacetylase activity are emerging as a potentially important new class of anticancer agents. In this study, we assessed the anticancer effects of valproic acid (VPA) on ovarian cancer in vitro and in vivo. Cultured SKOV3 cells were treated by VPA with different concentrations and time, then the effects on cell growth, cell cycle, apoptosis, and related events were investigated. A human ovarian cancer model transplanted subcutaneously in nude mice was established, and the efficacy of VPA used alone and in combination with diammine dichloroplatinum (DDP) to inhibit the growth of tumors was also assessed. Proliferation of SKOV3 cells was inhibited by VPA in a dose and time dependent fashion. The cell cycle distribution changed one treatment with VPA, with decrease in the number of S-phase cells and increase in G1-phase. VPA could significantly inhibit the growth of the epithelial ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells in vivo without toxic side effects. Treatment with VPA combined with DDP demonstrated enhanced anticancer effects. The result of flow cytometry (FCM) indicated that after VPA in vitro and in vivo, the expression of E-cadherin was increased whereas vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were decreased. This study suggests that VPA could be a novel attractive agent for treatment of ovarian cancer.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.287-291
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• 2013

Tremella fuciformis, as one of higher basidiomycetes, can asexually reproduce yeast-like conidium (YLC) cells by budding. We have developed an efficient method to introduce pCambia1300 plasmid containing hph gene into YLC cells using Agrobacterium. This was successful only when YLC cells were wounded by NaOH treatment before co-cultivation. In average, 40~50 transformants were produced out of $1.0{\times}10^6$ YLC cells investigated. The T-DNA transfer was confirmed by PCR. Methanolic extracts from transformants demonstrated different levels of toxicity against SKOV-3 cervical cancer cells.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.13 no.3_4
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• pp.87-94
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• 1998

The use of cisplatin is limited by severe side effects such as renal toxicity. Our platinum-base drug discovery is aimed at developing drugs capable of diminishing toxicity and improving antitumor activity. We synthesized new Pt (II) complex analogue [Pt (cis-DACH)(DPPP)]. 2NO$_3$ (PC) containing cis-1,2-diaminocyclohexane as a carrier ligand and 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino) propane as a leaving group. Furthermore, nitrate was added to improved the solubility. In this study, its structure was determined and its antitumor activity against SKOV-3 and NIH-OVCAR-3 human ovarian adenocarcinoma, and in vitro cytotoxicity was determined against primary cultured rabbit kidney proximal tubular and renal cortical cells of human kidney using colorimetric MTT assay. PC demonstrated acceptable antitumor activity against SKOV-3 and NIH-OVCAR-3 human ovarian adenocarcinoma and significant activity as compared with that of cisplatin. The toxicity of PC was found quite less than that of cisplatin using MTT and $^3$H-thymidine uptake tests in rabbit proximal tubular cells and human kidney cortical cells. PC was used for human cortical tissue in 7 weeks hitoculture by the glucose-consumption tests. We determined that the new platinum drug has lower nephrotoxicity than cisplatin. Based on these results, this novel platinum (II) complex compound (PC) represent a valuable lead in the development of a new anticancer chemotherapeutic agent capable of improving antitumor activity and low nephrotoxicity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6581-6586
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• 2014

Background: The istone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) is known to mediate the regulation of gene expression and antiproliferation activity in cancer cells. Kr$\ddot{u}$ppel-like factor 4 (klf4) is a zinc finger-containing transcription factor of the SP/KLF family, that is expressed in a variety of tissues and regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, tumorigenesis, and apoptosis. It may either either function as a tumor suppressor or an oncogene depending on genetic context of tumors. Aims: In this study, we tested the possibility that TSA may increase klf4 expression and cancer cell growth inhibition and apoptosis in SKOV-3 and A549 cells. Materials and Methods: The cytotoxicity of TSA was determined using the MTT assay test, while klf4 gene expression was assessed by real time PCR andto ability of TSA to induce apoptosis using a Vybrant Apoptosis Assay kit. Results: Our results showed that TSA exerted dose and time dependent cytotoxicity effect on SKOV-3 and A549 cells. Moreover TSA up-regulated klf4 expression. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that apoptosis was increased after TSA treatment. Conclusions: Taken together, this study showed that TSA increased klf4 expression in SKOV3 and A549 cell lines, consequently, klf4 may played a tumor-suppressor role by increasing both cell growth inhibition and apoptosis. This study sheds light on the details of molecular mechanisms of HDACI-induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.7
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• pp.557-567
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• 2019

TSPAN12, a member of the tetraspanin family, has been highly connected with the pathogenesis of cancer. Its biological function, however, especially in ovarian cancer (OC), has not been well elucidated. In this study, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset analysis revealed that upregulation of TSPAN12 gene expression was significantly correlated with patient survival, suggesting that TSPAN12 might be a potential prognostic marker for OC. Further exploration showed that TSPAN12 overexpression accelerated proliferation and colony formation of OVCAR3 and SKOV3 OC cells. Knockdown of TSPAN12 expression in A2780 and SKOV3 cells decreased both proliferation and colony formation. Western blot analysis showed that several cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) (e.g., Cyclin A2, Cyclin D1, Cyclin E2, CDK2, and CDK4) were significantly involved in the regulation of cell cycle downstream of TSPAN12. Moreover, TSPAN12 accelerated mitotic progression by controlling cell cycle. Thus, our data demonstrated that TSPAN12 could be a novel molecular target for the treatment of OC.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2020

Cisplatin (CDDP) is a chemotherapy agent used for patients with ovarian cancers. CDDP activates multiple signaling pathways, which causes various cellular reactions according to the type of cancer cells. Therefore, it is difficult to clearly conclude its signaling pathways. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of the signal protein of Akt/ERK1/2 and MAPK by CDDP-induced apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells (SKOV3). As a result, the number of apoptosis increased according to the TUNEL assay, and flow cytometric analysis confirmed that the percentage of sub-G1 early apoptosis was 8.73% higher than the control. The PARP and caspase-3 activity that appeared in the process of apoptosis was increased and the Bcl-2 expression was decreased. It was verified that the Akt and ERK1/2 activity was decreased, and p38 and JNK activity increased in a time dependent fashion. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that cisplatin inhibits the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells by inhibiting Akt activity and induces apoptosis by modulating the MAPK signaling pathway. However, a decrease in the ERK1/2 activity by CDDP was the opposite result to the result shown from the HeLa cells. For this reason, further research on signaling pathways is necessary. These results are expected to be useful for ovarian cancer treatment strategies targeting the MAPK pathway.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

Abnormal actin remodeling is a typical characteristic of tumor cells. Thymosin ${\beta}_{10}$ (TB10) and profilin-1 (PFN-1) are actin-binding proteins and essential regulators of actin polymerization. We previously showed that TB10 induced death in ovarian cancer cells by sequestering F-actin, but the underlying mechanisms of this induction have not been explored. In this study, we identified TB10 as a novel regulator of PFN-1 and demonstrated its novel function as a tumor suppressor in ovarian cancer cell lines. The present study investigated protein expression profiles through polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) in SKOV3 cells, an ovarian cancer cell line, that were transiently transfected with TB10. PFN-1 was highly overexpressed in response to TB10, and overexpression of PFN-1 resulted in inhibition of cell proliferation and migration and promotion of cellular apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells. Furthermore, transiently transfected PFN-1 appeared to deactivate the Erk signaling pathway, followed by decreased expression of Elk-1 and Egr-1 in human ovarian cancer cells. Interestingly, PFN-1 did not affect the activation of Akt. The results demonstrated that PFN-1 induced apoptotic cell death and inhibited proliferation and migration in ovarian cancer cells, suggesting that PFN-1 may be valuable in anti-cancer therapy.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.733-737
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• 2018

Cucurbitacin-I, a natural triterpenoid derived from Cucurbitaceae family plants, exhibits a number of potentially useful pharmacological and biological activities. Indeed, the previous study demonstrated that cucurbitacin-I reduced the proliferation of colon cancer cells by enhancing apoptosis and causing cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. CD44, a type I transmembrane protein with the function of adhering to cells, mediates between the extracellular matrix and other cells through hyaluronic acid. Recent studies have demonstrated that an overexpression of the CD44 membrane receptor results in tumor initiation and growth, specific behaviors of cancer stem cells, the development of drug resistance, and metastasis. The aim was to examine the effect of cucurbitacin-I on CD44 expression human ovarian cancer cells because the effect of cucurbitacin-I on CD44 expression has not been reported. The expressions of CD44 mRNA and protein were detected using a quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and a Western blot analysis, respectively. Treatment with cucurbitacin-I inhibited the expression of CD44 mRNA and protein. A subsequent analysis revealed that cucurbitacin-I blocked the phosphorylation of activator protein-1 (AP-1) and nuclear factor kappa-B ($NF-{\kappa}B$), which are key regulators of CD44 expression. Taken together, the data demonstrate that cucurbitacin-I regulates the AP-1 and $NF-{\kappa}B$ signaling pathways, leading to decreased CD44 expression.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.4223-4231
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• 2016

Background: Development of new apoptosis-inducing drugs is a promising trend in anticancer therapy. For this purpose several formamidinoderivatives of doxorubicin were synthesized. The aim of our study was to investigate effects of the five formamidinodoxorubicins in the ES-2 human ovarian clear cell carcinoma line, for comparison with data obtained previously for SKOV-3 human ovarian adenocarcinoma cells, to answer the question of whether and to what extent the histological cell type is a possible determinant of sensitivity to tested anthracyclines. Materials and Methods: In our experimental work the following methods were used: spectrophotometric assays with MTT; fluorimetric assays - double staining with Hoechst 33258 and propidium iodide (PI), measurement of caspase-3, -8, -9 activity, intracellular accumulation of DOX and analogues, estimation of drug uptake, mitochondrial transmembrane potential; flow cytometry - phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization with annexin V-FITC and PI fluorochromes. Results: Effects of the derivatives of doxorubicin were partially linked with the specific type of cancer cell although intracellular accumulation and cellular uptake of DOX and derivatives were similar in both. All of the investigated derivatives were considerably more cytotoxic than DOX. Formamidinodoxorubicins were able to induce caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death in both cell types. Conclusions: All new formamidine derivatives of DOX were able to induce caspase - dependent apoptosis in human ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV-3 and ES-2. Obtained results suggested that formamidine derivatives of DOX may be promising candidates for the prospective chemotherapeutic agents for the two different histological subtypes of ovarian cancer.