Syngeneic Murine Ovarian Cancer Model Reveals That Ascites Enriches for Ovarian Cancer Stem-Like Cells Expressing Membrane GRP78.

ABSTRACT: Patients with ovarian cancer are generally diagnosed at FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stage III/IV, when ascites is common. The volume of ascites correlates positively with the extent of metastasis and negatively with prognosis. Membrane GRP78, a stress-inducible endoplasmic reticulum chaperone that is also expressed on the plasma membrane ((mem)GRP78) of aggressive cancer cells, plays a crucial role in the embryonic stem cell maintenance. We studied the effects of ascites on ovarian cancer stem-like cells using a syngeneic mouse model. Our study demonstrates that ascites-derived tumor cells from mice injected intraperitoneally with murine ovarian cancer cells (ID8) express increased (mem)GRP78 levels compared with ID8 cells from normal culture. We hypothesiz

SUBMITTER: Mo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4765908 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature