Goserelin promotes the apoptosis of epithelial ovarian cancer cells by upregulating forkhead box O1 through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway

Oncology Reports
Ning ZhangYing Zhang

Abstract

Gonadotropins, including luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), are conducive to the growth of ovarian cancer based on the 'gonadotropin theory' and are regulated by gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of goserelin, a GnRH agonist, on the apoptosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells and the underlying in vitro and in vivo mechanisms. Through flow cytometry, Hoechst staining and TUNEL staining, we demonstrated that goserelin promoted the apoptosis of EOC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Through human apoptosis gene PCR array, we verified that the promotion of EOC cell apoptosis by goserelin was linked to the upregulation of members of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and TNF receptor superfamilies, which have been identified as downstream targets of forkhead box O1 (FOXO1). Goserelin enhanced FOXO1 expression, and siRNA-mediated knockdown of FOXO1 abrogated the induction of apoptosis by goserelin. Moreover, goserelin decreased AKT activity, and FOXO1 upregulation by goserelin was dependent on the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway. In vivo, the expression of key factors in the PI3K/AKT/FOXO1 pathway was consistent with tha...Continue Reading

Methods Mentioned

BETA
flow
PCR
protein assay
flow cytometry
confocal microscopy
xenograft
Assay

Software Mentioned

GraphPad Prism
Stata
FlowJo

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AKT Pathway

This feed focuses on the AKT serine/threonine kinase, which is an important signaling pathway involved in processes such as glucose metabolism and cell survival.

Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis