Abstract 4231: Epigenetic regulation and tumorigenicity of ovarian cancer cells

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate changes in CD133 expression and in tumorigenesis that occur in ovarian cancer cell lines treated with drugs that alter gene methylation. Materials and Methods: We selected two common drugs 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, a demethylating agent and Trichostain A(TSA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor and investigated three ovarian cancer cell lines(CD133+ cell lines A2780 and CD133- cell lines Hey and SKOV3) to determine their effect on ovarian cells in vitro and in vivo. Results: We demonstrated that epigenetic modification did not significantly alter cell viability but suppressed spheroid formation of cancer cells lines. FACS results indicated that the percentage of CD133+ cells increased following treatment with 5uM 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine and 300nM trichostatin A after 72° incubation. Xenograft assay of the NOD/SCIDmice results demonstrated that both drugs reduced spheroid formation and blocked tumorigenesis. Conclusions: We concluded that 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine and TSA can significantly suppress both spheroid formation and tumor formation and could be provide a new strategy for the treatment of resistant ovarian cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4231.