title: Involvement of human chorionic gonadotropin in regulating vasculogenic mimicry and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α expression in ovarian cancer cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) can play a crucial role in angiogenesis. In the present study, we focused on hCG to gain insight into its potential effects on vasculogenic mimicry (VM) in ovarian cancer cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ovarian cancer OVCAR-3 cells were incubated with different concentrations of recombinant hCG in 3-dimensional cultures. VM was identified by morphological observations and vascular endothelial cell marker detection in OVCAR-3 cells. Expression of hCG, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), and the endothelial cell markers CD31, VEGF, and factor VIII were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The effect of hCG on endothelial cell-marker expression in ovarian cancer cells was further explored using small interfering RNA (siRNA) and plasmid-based approaches.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Incubation of OVCAR-3 cells with recombinant hCG induced vessel-like network formation, which was accompanied by significant elevation of vascular marker expression. Attenuation of hCG expression by siRNA in OVCAR-3 cells suppressed the expression of endothelial cell markers and HIF-1α by tumour cells. Overexpression of hCG in OVCAR-3 cells resulted in increased expression of endothelial cell markers and HIF-1α.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCG was crucial for changing the phenotype of OVCAR-3 cells to endothelial-like cells. The effect of hCG induction on VM in ovarian cancer cells is potentially associated with HIF-1α.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, No 20, Xisi Rd, Nantong, 226001 People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, No 20, Xisi Rd, Nantong, 226001 People's Republic of China.|Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiangxiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, No 20, Xisi Rd, Nantong, 226001 People's Republic of China.|Changzhou 2nd People's Hospital, Changzhou, China.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, No 20, Xisi Rd, Nantong, 226001 People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sainan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: The Immunology Laboratory of Nantong University, Nantong, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, College of Life Sciences, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu China.
authors.forename: Caoyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, No 20, Xisi Rd, Nantong, 226001 People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Human chorionic gonadotropin; Hypoxia inducible factor-1α; Ovarian cancer; Vasculogenic mimicry