Fascaplysin inhibit ovarian cancer cell proliferation and metastasis through inhibiting CDK4.

OBJECTIVE

Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are important regulators of the cell cycle; previous studies have shown that misregulation of CDK4 (cyclin-dependent kinase 4) activity can lead to cancer. The present study investigated the anti-tumor effects of a highly selective CDK4 inhibitor fascaplysin in ovarian carcinoma cell lines.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In our study, cell proliferation, cell cycle, cell apoptosis, cell invasion, and cell migration relative assays were performed in ovarian cancer cell lines A2780 and OVCAR3 in the presence of different concentrations of fascaplysin. The protein expression levels of CDK4, cyclin D1, Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma-2), and VEGFA (vascular endothelial growth factor A) were determined by western blot.

RESULTS

Our results showed that fascaplysin inhibited ovarian cancer cell proliferation, invasion and migration, as well as inducing S arrest and cell apoptosis. Treatment with fascaplysin also suppressed CDK4, cyclin D1, Bcl-2, and VEGFA expression at protein levels.

CONCLUSIONS

Above all, our results showed that fascaplysin has anti-tumor activity against ovarian cancer cell lines through inhibiting CDK4, and may be a therapeutic target for the treatment of ovarian carcinomas.