Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the fifth deadliest malignancy in women in the United States, with a high death-to-incidence ratio and five-year survival of 30%. Aggressiveness and recurrence of EOC has been attributed to cancer stem cells (CSC) within tumors, which contribute to chemoresistance and relapse. Deregulation of miRNAs has been linked to cancer initiation, progression, and the stem cell state. We focus on let-7 miRNA, which is repressed in many cancers and is associated with decreased survival. Let-7 is essential for cell differentiation, and its repression is required for reprogramming. Decreased let-7 level in cancer is associated with stemness.
OBJECTIVE: Purpose for our research is to understand let-7 expression and function in EOC cell-lines and patients-derived samples in order to understand mechanisms of its abnormal regulation and develop novel treatments.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patient-derived samples are used along with EOC cell-lines. Over-expression of Let-7 is achieved by mimic transfection and confirmed via RT-qPCR. Level of miRNA and pluripotency markers mRNA is detected via RT-qPCR, and protein expression confirmed by Western blot. Functional assays to analyze cancer phenotype include wound healing, invasion and spheroid formation assays. Embryoid body (EB) formation is used to mimic murine early embryonic development and guided toward primitive streak via cytokines. Let-7 expression is analyzed via RT-qPCR.
RESULTS: We demonstrate that patient-derived EOC samples have decreased Let-7 levels and increased expression of pluripotency markers, therefore, we hypothesize that up-regulation of let-7 in EOC will decrease aggressiveness and increase chemosensitivity. We have demonstrated that up-regulation of let-7 via mimic transfection reduced cancer stem cell properties demonstrated by reduction of pluripotency markers and spheroid formation. Let-7 also decreased in vitro migration and invasion. Our data show that let-7 suppresses stem cell-like phenotype of EOC, indicating that it may be a treatment option in conjunction with conventional chemotherapies. In order to understand deregulation of let-7 in cancer, understanding its normal regulation and function during development is essential. By using mESCs we demonstrate that let-7 is dynamically expressed, contradicting conventional belief that let-7 levels slowly increase upon differentiation. Previously published data demonstrating that Hmga2, a let-7 target, peaks and is required upon exit from pluripotency supports our results.
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, let-7 is repressed in EOC, and its over-expression demonstrates tumor suppressive functions via decreasing stemness, migration, invasion, and spheroid formation. During development let-7 is dynamically expressed, demonstrating complex regulation.
Citation Format: Evgeny A Chirshev, Anthony Nguyen, Hojo Nozomi, Hill Alyse, Juli Unternaehrer. MICRO-RNA LET-7 REGULATION AND FUNCTION IN OVARIAN CANCER AND EARLY EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium; Sep 13-15, 2018; Seattle, WA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2019;25(22 Suppl):Abstract nr TMIM-065.
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