Research

Comparative proteome analysis of human epithelial ovarian cancer

Jean-Philippe Gagné^1,4 , Chantal Éthier¹ , Pierre Gagné¹ , Geneviève Mercier¹ , Marie-Ève Bonicalzi¹ , Anne-Marie Mes-Masson³ , Arnaud Droit² , Eric Winstall² , Maxim Isabelle¹ and Guy G Poirier^1,2

¹  Health and Environment Unit, Laval University Medical Research Center, CHUQ, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, 2705, Boulevard Laurier, Ste-Foy, Québec, G1V 4G2, Canada

²  Proteomics Platform, Québec Genomic Center, Laval University Medical Research Center, CHUQ, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, 2705, Boulevard Laurier, Ste-Foy, Québec, G1V 4G2, Canada

³  Centre de recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)-Hôpital Notre-Dame and Institut du cancer de Montréal, 1560 rue Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, Québec, H2L 4M1, Canada

⁴  CNRS UMR6061 Université de Rennes 1, Groupe Cycle Cellulaire, Université de Rennes 1, Faculté de Médecine, 2 Avenue du Pr Léon Bernard, CS 3417, Rennes cedex, France

author email corresponding author email

Proteome Science 2007, 5:16doi:10.1186/1477-5956-5-16

Published:	24 September 2007

Abstract

Background

Epithelial ovarian cancer is a devastating disease associated with low survival prognosis mainly because of the lack of early detection markers and the asymptomatic nature of the cancer until late stage. Using two complementary proteomics approaches, a differential protein expression profile was carried out between low and highly transformed epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines which realistically mimic the phenotypic changes observed during evolution of a tumour metastasis. This investigation was aimed at a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying differentiation, proliferation and neoplastic progression of ovarian cancer.

Results

The quantitative profiling of epithelial ovarian cancer model cell lines TOV-81D and TOV-112D generated using iTRAQ analysis and two-dimensional electrophoresis coupled to liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry revealed some proteins with altered expression levels. Several of these proteins have been the object of interest in cancer research but others were unrecognized as differentially expressed in a context of ovarian cancer. Among these, series of proteins involved in transcriptional activity, cellular metabolism, cell adhesion or motility and cytoskeleton organization were identified, suggesting their possible role in the emergence of oncogenic pathways leading to aggressive cellular behavior.

Conclusion

The differential protein expression profile generated by the two proteomics approaches combined to complementary characterizations studies will open the way to more exhaustive and systematic representation of the disease and will provide valuable information that may be helpful to uncover the molecular mechanisms related to epithelial ovarian cancer.