title: Role of apoptotic regulators in human epithelial ovarian cancer.
abstract: We assessed molecular markers such as BRCA1, K-ras, p53, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, Survivin and telomerase activity in untreated ovarian cancer tissue samples, ascitic cells and normal ovarian tissues and gathered insights into their correlation with each other and also with apoptotic index. The expression of these proteins was analyzed by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Apoptotic index was determined by TUNEL assay and telomerase activity was measured by PCR-ELISA kit. p53, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, K-ras and Survivin were found to be over expressed in tumors and ascitic cells as compared to normal controls whereas there was no significant difference in expression of BRCA1. A significantly higher telomerase activity and lower apoptotic index in tumors as compared to controls was observed. p53 positively correlated with Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, K-ras and Survivin expression and also clinical stage of the disease. A positive correlation between Survivin and Bcl-2, Bcl-XL was seen. Apoptotic Index, telomerase activity and BRCA1 expression showed no correlation with any of the parameters. Our study confirms the fact that multiple gene interactions govern the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer, and analyzing ascitic cells of ovarian cancer patients may help to delineate molecular profile of the primary tumor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Rajarshi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kar
authors.forename: Sudip
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.forename: Archna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Himani
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Sunesh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Siddhartha Dutta
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Neeta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D005260:Female; D019398:Genes, BRCA1; D006801:Humans; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000473:pathology*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000032:analysis; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D000077022:Survivin; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis; D051020:bcl-X Protein / Q000032:analysis; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: C494811:BCL2L1 protein, human; C107489:BIRC5 protein, human; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; C117307:KRAS protein, human; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D000077022:Survivin; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D051020:bcl-X Protein; D019098:Telomerase; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D018631:ras Proteins