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ERRα expression in ovarian cancer and promotes ovarian cancer cells migration in vitro

  • Gynecologic Oncology
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from a gynaecological malignancy in the developed world, and is characterized by invasion and metastasis and thus causes a high fatality rate. Estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα) has been demonstrated to play a widespread and pathophysiological relevant role in tumourigenesis and development. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ERRα expression on the progression of ovarian cancer.

Methods

The correlation between ERRα expression level and clinical pathological parameters in ovarian cancer tissues were analysed via cancer public database CPTAC. The expression level of ERRα in ovarian cancer cells were confirmed by RT-qPCR and Western blot methods. The cellular ERRα expression was up-regulated by lentivirus transfection and down-regulated by specific antagonist. The invasion and metastasis capabilities of ovarian cancer cells were characterized by wound healing assay and trans-well chamber assay.

Results

The CPTAC database showed that the ERRα expression levels were higher in the late-stage and high-grade ovarian cancer tissues than in early-stage and low-grade tissues. Ovarian cancer cells with higher-expression ERRα exhibited stronger invasion and metastasis capabilities in vitro. After up-regulating the ERRα expression level, the invasion and metastasis capabilities of ovarian cancer cells were enhanced, while down-regulation weakened. Moreover, the wound sealing rate was positively correlated with the expression of ERRα mRNA expression level (r = 0.921, P < 0.01), and the cell invasiveness was also positively correlated with the cellular ERRα mRNA expression level (r = 0.926, P < 0.01).

Conclusions

Our results suggest that ERRα may promote the progression of ovarian cancer, and may serve as a promising predictive biomarker.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available in the UALCAN database (http://ualcan.path.uab.edu).

Code availability

Not applicable.

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Funding

This research was funded by Fujian Provincial Maternity and Children’s Hospital Research Fund, YCXZ18-01.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fujian Provincial Hospital South Branch, Fuzhou, 350028, Fujian, People’s Republic of China

    Weiyi Huang

  2. Laboratory of Gynecologic Oncology, Fujian Provincial Maternity and Children’s Health Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, 18 Daoshan Road, Fuzhou, 350001, Fujian, People’s Republic of China

    Weiyi Huang, Lili Chen & Pengming Sun

  3. Department of Gynecology, Fujian Provincial Maternity and Children Hospital, Affiliate Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350001, Fujian, People’s Republic of China

    Lili Chen & Pengming Sun

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  1. Weiyi Huang
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  2. Lili Chen
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Contributions

WH was a major contributor in writing the manuscript and performing the experiments. LC was a contributor in methodology and validation. PS was a contributor in conceptualization, supervision and funding acquisition. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pengming Sun.

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Huang, W., Chen, L. & Sun, P. ERRα expression in ovarian cancer and promotes ovarian cancer cells migration in vitro. Arch Gynecol Obstet 305, 1525–1534 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-021-06323-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-021-06323-0

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