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miR-200 family microRNAs involved in ovarian cancer metastasis
Chen J. Gynecol Oncol. 2011;doi:10.1016/j.ygyno.2010.12.339.
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Targeted delivery of miR-429 — a microRNA from the miR-200 family — showed potential therapeutic value in the reduction of metastatic ovarian cancer cells, according to researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
“We found that when we introduced miR-429 into the highly metastatic ovarian cancer cells, they became less invasive, less migratory and more like the cancer cells associated with primary tumors,” John F. McDonald, PhD, director of the Integrated Cancer Research Center at Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Biology, and chief research scientist at the Ovarian Cancer Institute, said in a press release.
McDonald and colleagues compared the gene expression levels of two miR-200 family microRNAs (miR-141 and miR-429), miR-205, let-7a, let-7d and miR320 between two ovarian cancer cell lines (OVCAR-3 and HEY) with different metastatic potentials. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of ovarian cancer cells at the periphery of primary tumors is essential to the peritoneal spread of metastatic cells; microRNAs previously have been linked to this process.
Results indicated that miR-141, miR-429 and miR-205 were expressed at lower levels in the HEY cells than in OVCAR-3 cells (P<.01). No significant changes were noted in the levels of let-7a, let-7d or miR-320 (P>.01). When compared to OVCAR-3, the over-expression of miR-429 in HEY cells resulted in significant changes in morphology, molecular profiles and migratory and invasive growth characteristics indicative of mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition.
“Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that miR-200 family microRNAs and miR-429, in particular, are directly involved in [epithelial-to-mesenchymal] and the promotion of ovarian cancer metastasis,” the researchers wrote.
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