Section of Ophthalmology and Neurosciences, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, Welcome Trust Brenner Building, St James's University Hospital, Leeds LS9 7TF, UK.
Br J Cancer. 2011 Apr 19.
The clinico-pathological and molecular heterogeneity of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) complicates its early diagnosis and successful treatment. Highly aneuploid tumours and the presence of ascitic fluids are hallmarks of EOC. Two microcephaly-associated proteins, abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated protein (ASPM) and microcephalin, are involved in mitosis and DNA damage repair. Their expression is deregulated at the RNA level in EOC. Here, ASPM and microcephalin protein expression in primary cultures established from the ascites of patients with EOC was determined and correlated with clinical data to assess their suitability as biomarkers.
Five established ovarian cancer cell lines, cells derived from two benign ovarian ascites samples and 40 primary cultures of EOC derived from ovarian ascites samples were analysed by protein slot blotting and/or immunofluorescence to determine ASPM and microcephalin protein levels and their cellular localisation. Results were correlated with clinico-pathological data.
A statistically significant correlation was identified for ASPM localisation and tumour grade, with high levels of cytoplasmic ASPM correlating with grade 1 tumours. Conversely, cytoplasmic microcephalin was only identified in high-grade tumours. Furthermore, low levels of nuclear microcephalin correlated with reduced patient survival.
Our results suggest that ASPM and microcephalin have the potential to be biomarkers in ovarian cancer.
British Journal of Cancer advance online publication, 19 April 2011; doi:10.1038/bjc.2011.117 www.bjcancer.com.
PMID: 21505456 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Source: National Library of Medicine.
