PO-109 Integral membrane protein 2A expression leads to enhanced anti-cancer effects and chemosensitivity in epithelial ovarian cancer

Introduction Integral membrane protein 2A (ITM2A) is a type 2 transmenbrane protein. Expression of ITM2A was reported to be regulated by PAX-3, a transcription factor important for muscle, neural, and facial development in vertebrates. However, the biological mechanism of ITM2A is so far unknown. Material and methods The ITM2A protein expression was down-regulated in epithelial ovarian cancer tissue samples and cancer cells as compared to normal cells (p Results and discussions Over-expressing ITM2A in ovarian cancer cells inhibited cell growth through the G2/M cell cycle arrest. A matrigel invasion assay showed that ITM2A-transfected ovarian cancer cells reduced the colony formation and attenuated invasiveness of ovarian cancer cells. To assess the chemosensitivity of ITM2A, chemosensitizing effects of ovarian cancer cells were measured using paclitaxel or carboplatin. ITM2A was remarkably reduced the proliferative activities after chemotherapeutic agent treatments. Moreover, ITM2A upregulation in ovarian cancer cells increased protein expressions of PARP, cleaved caspase-3 and p53 after carboplatin treatment. Conclusion Taken together, our results showed that up-regulation of ITM2A could contribute to poor maintenance of epithelial ovarian cancer, affecting both cell growth and invasion. Furthermore, ITM2A expression leads to increase chemosensitivity to chemoagent, and has therapeutic potential for ovarian cancer.