Abstract
Background: Carboplatin and paclitaxel form the cornerstone of chemotherapy for epithelial ovarian cancer, however, drug resistance to these agents continues to present challenges. Despite extensive research, the mechanisms underlying this resistance remain unclear. Materials and Methods: A 2D-gel proteomics method was used to analyze protein expression levels of three human ovarian cancer cell lines and five biopsy samples. Representative proteins identified were validated via western immunoblotting. Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed metabolomic pathway changes. Results: A total of 189 proteins were identified with restricted criteria. Combined treatment targeting the proteasome-ubiquitin pathway resulted in re-sensitisation of drug-resistant cells. In addition, examination of five surgical biopsies of ovarian tissues revealed α-enolase (ENOA), elongation factor Tu, mitochondrial (EFTU), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3P), stress-70 protein, mitochondrial (GRP75), apolipoprotein A-1 (APOA1), peroxiredoxin (PRDX2) and annexin A (ANXA) as candidate biomarkers of drug-resistant disease. Conclusion: Proteomics combined with pathway analysis provided information for an effective combined treatment approach overcoming drug resistance. Analysis of cell lines and tissues revealed potential prognostic biomarkers for ovarian cancer.
Footnotes
↵* These Authors contributed equally to this study.
This article is freely accessible online.
Associated Content
Supporting information. Gel images, pathway analysis results can be found in the supporting information.
All supplementary data are online available at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/pharmacy/people/academic-research-staff-profiles/min-yang/ovarian-cancer-report.pdf.
Conflicts of Interest
The Authors declare no competing financial interest.
- Received September 13, 2016.
- Revision received October 16, 2016.
- Accepted October 20, 2016.
- Copyright© 2017, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved