Up-Regulated FASN Expression Promotes Transcoelomic Metastasis of Ovarian Cancer Cell through Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Li Jiang²  Hong Wang²  Jiarui Li²  Xuhong Fang²  Hong Pan²  Xiangliang Yuan¹ 

[1] Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xin Hua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 1665 Kongjiang Road, Shanghai 200092, China;Department of Gynecology, Xin Hua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 1665 Kongjiang Road, Shanghai 200092, China; E-Mails:

关键词: ovarian cancer;    fatty acid synthase;    tumorigenicity;    EMT;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms150711539

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Fatty acid synthase (FASN), responsible for the de novo synthesis of fatty acids, has been shown to act as an oncogene in various human cancers. However, the mechanisms by which FASN favors the progression of ovarian carcinoma remain unknown. In this study, we evaluated FASN expression in ovarian cancer and investigated how FASN regulates the aggressiveness of ovarian cancer cells. Our results show that increased FASN is associated with the peritoneal metastasis of ovarian cancers. Over-expression of FASN results in a significant increase of tumor burden in peritoneal dissemination, accompanied by augment in cellular colony formation and metastatic ability. Correspondingly, FASN knockdown using RNA interference in ovarian cancer cells inhibits the migration in vitro and experimental peritoneal dissemination in vivo. Mechanistic studies reveal that FASN promotes Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition (EMT) via a transcriptional regulation of E-cadherin and N-cadherin, which is also confirmed by luciferase promoter activity analysis. Taken together, our work demonstrates that FASN promotes the peritoneal dissemination of ovarian cancer cells, at least in part through the induction of EMT. These findings suggest that FASN plays a critical role in the peritoneal metastasis of ovarian cancer. Targeting de novo lipogenesis may have a therapeutic potential for advanced ovarian cancer.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.