Browsing by Subject "Eph receptor"

Eph (Erythropoietin producing hepatocellular) receptors and their membrane-bound ligands, ephrins, form the largest family of receptor tyrosine kinases in mammals. They regulate functions such as cell migration and axon guidance during development, and wound healing and tissue boundary maintenance in mature tissues for example. Due to the membrane-bound nature of the ephrin ligands, Eph-ephrin signalling can proceed in two directions: forward (Eph-expressing cell) and reverse (ephrin expressing cell). In addition to its critical physiological functions in development and tissue homeostasis, the Eph-ephrin system has also been implicated in multiple diseases, including several cancers, in which the aberrant expression of Eph receptors and ephrins are often present. The EphA2 receptor for example has been identified as an oncogene with a dual mode of action as either tumor suppressor or an oncogene through distinct phosphorylation statuses of the receptor. High-grade serous ovarian cancer is the most common subtype of ovarian cancer, and the deadliest gynaecological malignancy with a dismal five-year survival rate. High-grade serous ovarian cancer does not present symptoms at an early stage, yet it quickly progresses into forming peritoneal metastases by cell shedding from the primary tumour. Small patient cohort studies have given indications of the correlation between the Eph-ephrin system and survival in ovarian cancer. This aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the Eph-ephrin system in high-grade serous ovarian cancer using a large patient cohort mRNA expression dataset to obtain survival association data of proteins of interest used with cell-based studies and the analysis of clinical samples in the form of tumor microarrays and fresh primary samples to investigate the functions of the found proteins of interest. A 428-patient The Cancer Genome Atlas high-grade serous ovarian cancer microarray mRNA dataset was analysed using the Kaplan-Meier estimator for each Eph-ephrin family member. Cell based studies were performed with recombinant ephrin treatments and ephrin knockdowns. These data were analysed using Western blotting and immunofluorescence stainings. Clinical high-grade serous ovarian cancer samples obtained from Turku University Hospital were analysed using immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence stainings, and mRNA sequencing. EfnA5 had a significant correlation of high expression and poor survival, which is atypical to ephrins. Low EfnA3 correlated with poor survival. High levels of known oncogenes EphA2 and EphA4 also correlated with poor survival. EfnA5 treatment resulted in increased oncogenic EphA2 signaling in comparison with canonical Eph-ephrin signalling mediated by EfnA1. Knockdown of EfnA5 increased canonical, tumour suppressive EphA2 signaling, while EfnA1 knockdown increased oncogenic EphA2 signaling. Immunohistochemical analysis of tumour microarrays with multiple ovarian cancer subtypes displayed an association between the highly malignant high-grade serous subtype and EfnA5 expression. In addition to this, EfnA5 expression was increased during high-grade serous ovarian cancer progression. The Eph-ephrin system is implicated in the survival associations of multiple cancers, but the exact functions facilitated by Eph-ephrin signalling in cancer have remained relatively unknown, with the exception of EphB4-EfnB2 driven angiogenesis. This study offers insights into oncogenic Eph-ephrin signalling in ovarian cancer, displaying that oncogenic EphA2 functions can be altered by ephrins in addition to the known kinase crosstalk pathway. The noncanonical nature of EfnA5 is highlighted by its oncogenic functions in comparison to typical Eph-ephrin signalling, and the significant increase of EfnA5 expression during high-grade serous ovarian cancer progression and association with this highly malignant subtype of ovarian cancer. Although the reverse signalling effects of EfnA5 were not studied, this study highlights the importance of ephrins in Eph-ephrin signalling in cancer, presenting that the focus should not be only on the Eph receptors when studying the oncogenic signalling facilitated by the Eph-ephrin system.