Abstract B006: Investigating the role of soluble metabolites in primary high grade serous ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women. High grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC), the most common and lethal histotype, can originate from fallopian tube epithelial (FTE) cells. Research has not historically focused on the metabolites involved in the migration of transformed FTE cells from the fallopian tube to the ovary. Co-culture of murine FTE and ovaries enabled identification of several significantly upregulated soluble metabolites via imaging mass spectrometry (IMS), including norepinephrine (NE). Therefore, we set out to determine the effect of norepinephrine on FTE and ovarian cancer cell lines. Clinical data analysis revealed that human HGSOC cell lines express the β-adrenergic receptor through which norepinephrine signals, called ADRβ2, and HGSOC patients with increased ADRβ2 expression have worse survival outcomes (p