title: Neutral endopeptidase 24.11/CD10 suppresses progressive potential in ovarian carcinoma in vitro and in vivo.
abstract: Recently, numerous studies have shown that endothelin-1 (ET-1) is expressed in ovarian carcinoma and that ET-1 selectively acts as an autocrine or paracrine growth factor through the endothelin A receptor (ET(A)R), and is involved in cell proliferation, invasiveness, neovascularization, and prevention of apoptosis. Neutral endopeptidase 24.11 (NEP) is a cell surface aminopeptidase with a ubiquitous expression and is capable of degrading a number of bioactive peptides including ET-1. Our previous report showed that stromal NEP expression in ovarian carcinoma was down-regulated as the histologic grade advanced. Here, we confirmed that NEP was expressed in tumor cells as well as stromal tissues in ovarian carcinoma, and investigated the functions of NEP in this carcinoma. We showed that there was a significant decrease in cell proliferation and invasiveness with a reduction in the concentration of ET-1 in the conditioned medium on the NEP overexpression of NEP in ovarian carcinoma cells. In addition, the overexpression of NEP enhanced susceptibility to paclitaxel, resulting in an increased occurrence of apoptotic morphologic change. Furthermore, tumorigenesis was reduced in vivo with the overexpression of NEP, down-regulation of both matrix metalloproteinase-2, and vascular endothelial growth factor expression. This evidence suggests that NEP functionally suppresses the progression of ovarian carcinoma and further study of this enzyme may reveal an effective way to target ET-1 for the treatment of this carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan. kajiyama@med.nagoya-ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kajiyama
authors.forename: Kiyosumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Terauchi
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ino
authors.forename: Shigehiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mizutani
authors.forename: Fumitaka
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kikkawa
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D015260:Neprilysin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D015260:Neprilysin; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2