New therapeutic strategy for ovarian cancer by targeting the mechanisum of maintenance for stemness

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25893094
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Obstetrics and gynecology
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: MITSUI Hiroko 名古屋大学, 医学部附属病院, 助教 (70571339)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-08-30 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 卵巣癌 / 腹膜播種 / 癌幹細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We investigated the function of peritoneal mesothelial cells (PMCs) in peritoneal dissemination of ovarian cancer. When PMCs were cultured with either carcinomatous ascites, conditioned medium of ovarian cancer cell line or TGF-β, PMCs were dramatically changed from cobblestone-like to fibroblast-like morphology. In the changed PMCs, the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition marker and cancer-associated fibroblast marker were increased. In the changed PMCs, the secretion of some cytokine were also elevated. Ovarian cancer cells showed a greater capacity for migration toward changed PMCs than toward normal PMCs. The changed PMCs may have positive effect on ovarian cancer cells.

Free Research Field

産婦人科学