Abstract
CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) functions as both an oncogenic and a tumor suppressor, depending on the cancer type, through epigenetic regulation. Epigenetic regulation plays a key role in cancer metastasis. Our objective was to investigate whether CTCF plays a crucial role in epithelial ovarian cancer metastasis. First, we found that CTCF expression was increased in ovarian cancer tissues compared to non-tumor tissues. Increased expression of CTCF predicts poor prognosis of ovarian cancer patients. In addition, CTCF knockdown significantly inhibited the metastasis of ovarian cancer cells, although it had no effect on cell proliferation and tumor growth. More importantly, CTCF expression was higher in metastatic lesions compared to primary tumors from the same ovarian cancer patients. We also demonstrated that CTCF affects a number of metastasis-associated genes, including CTBP1, SERPINE1 and SRC. Additionally, our ChIP-seq results revealed that these genes have multiple CTCF-binding sites, findings that were further confirmed by ChIP-PCR. Our results suggest that CTCF could be a novel drug target to treat ovarian cancer by interfering with cancer cell metastasis.
Highlights
Ovarian cancer is one of the most common and lethal gynecological malignancies worldwide [1]
CTCF expression is upregulated in epithelial ovarian cancer and correlates with poor prognosis
We found that CTCF mRNA expression levels were approximately 2-fold higher in tumor specimens compared with the paired normal tissues
Summary
Ovarian cancer is one of the most common and lethal gynecological malignancies worldwide [1]. Over 90% of ovarian cancer cases are ovarian epithelial carcinomas [2]. The five-year survival rate of epithelial ovarian cancer remains at approximately 30% [3]. Greater than 60% of patients are diagnosed with advanced disease with intraperitoneal or distant metastasis [4]. The cure rate for ovarian cancer patients without or with metastasis is 88% and 18%, respectively [5]. Elucidating the mechanisms underlying metastasis in epithelial ovarian cancer will contribute to the development of novel therapeutic strategies and improve prognosis
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.