Human ovarian tumors of epithelial origin express PDGF in vitro and in vivo

Our plain-English summary of Human ovarian tumors of epithelial origin express PDGF in vitro and in vivo, by M.A. Versnel, M. Haarbrink, A.W. Langerak, et al (Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics, 1994).

The study

• Authors: M.A. Versnel, M. Haarbrink, A.W. Langerak, P.A. de Laat, A. Hagemeijer, T.H. van der Kwast, L.A. van den Berg-Bakker, P.I. Schrier
• Journal: Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics
• Published: 1994;73(1):60-4
• Cited by: 35 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

In human malignant mesothelioma cell lines an elevation of the expression of the genes for the PDGF A-chain, PDGF B-chain, and PDGF beta-receptor was found compared to normal mesothelial cells. As ovarian epithelial tumors originate from the ovarian surface epithelium, which is of mesothelial origin, we investigated PDGF chain and PDGF receptor mRNA expression in six human ovarian cell lines of epithelial origin and a granulosa tumor cell line. All six investigated ovarian epithelial tumor cell lines expressed the PDGF A- and B-chain genes, while the granulosa tumor cell line expressed the PDGF A-chain gene only. Expression of PDGF receptors was not found in the epithelial or granulosa tumor cell lines. Cytogenetic and molecular biological studies did not provide evidence for rearrangement or genomic amplification of the PDGF B-chain. Expression of PDGF was also demonstrated in ovarian tumors in vivo. Frozen sections of six serous ovarian carcinomas stained positive with an antibody against PDGF and negative with antibodies against the PDGF alpha- and beta-receptors. These results suggest that PDGF expression might be a useful marker for ovarian carcinomas.

In plain English

This laboratory study examined a growth factor called PDGF in ovarian tumors. The authors reasoned that common epithelial ovarian tumors arise from tissue of mesothelial origin, and they had earlier found increased PDGF A- and B-chain gene expression in malignant mesothelioma cell lines. They tested six ovarian carcinoma cell lines of epithelial origin and one cell line from a granulosa cell tumor. They compared these with normal mesothelial cells and a mesothelioma cell line. They also stained frozen tumor tissue from six ovarian carcinoma patients. All seven ovarian lines expressed PDGF A-chain messenger RNA, weakly in two epithelial lines. The six epithelial lines expressed B-chain messenger RNA at variable levels, and none was detected in the granulosa line. No receptor messenger RNA was detected in the ovarian lines. The B-chain gene showed no rearrangement, amplification or loss. PDGF was detected in tumor cells of all six tissue samples, and the tumor cells did not stain for the receptors. The study did not examine asbestos exposure. The authors concluded that PDGF might be a useful marker for ovarian carcinomas.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory study of human tumor cell lines (RNA and DNA blot analysis and chromosome analysis), plus antibody staining of frozen tumor tissue sections
• Who was studied: Six human ovarian carcinoma cell lines of epithelial origin (COV413B, COV362.4, COV504, COV446B, COV644, COV318) and one granulosa cell tumor line (COV434). These were compared with cultured normal mesothelial cells and the malignant mesothelioma cell line Mero-48b. The study also used frozen tumor sections from six ovarian carcinoma patients. The authors were based at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, and University Hospital, Leiden, The Netherlands. The article does not give dates of sample collection.
• Exposure: No asbestos or other fiber exposure was studied. The study measured expression of the PDGF A- and B-chain genes and the PDGF alpha- and beta-receptors.
• Main results:
  • All seven ovarian tumor cell lines expressed PDGF A-chain messenger RNA transcripts. Expression was weak in two epithelial lines, COV413B and COV362.4.
  • PDGF B-chain messenger RNA was expressed at variable levels in all six epithelial ovarian tumor cell lines. No B-chain transcripts were detectable in the granulosa tumor cell line COV434.
  • No specific transcripts for the PDGF alpha- or beta-receptors were detected in any of the seven ovarian tumor cell lines.
  • Southern blot analysis showed no DNA rearrangement, amplification or loss of the PDGF B-chain gene in the ovarian tumor cell lines. No constant structural abnormalities of chromosome 22 were seen.
  • Antibody staining detected PDGF in the tumor cells of all six ovarian tumor tissue samples.
  • Expression of the PDGF alpha- or beta-receptors was found in none of the ovarian tumor cell lines or ovarian tumors studied.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that PDGF expression might be a useful marker for ovarian carcinomas. Because no receptors were found, they suggested the PDGF produced could only act on surrounding cells (a paracrine function). They also wrote that further study of PDGF in epithelial ovarian tumors might be of interest for the differential diagnosis between invasive and epithelial tumors, setting aside borderline tumors.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Normal ovarian surface epithelial cells could not be grown in large enough amounts, so the authors used pleural mesothelial cells as the normal comparison.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Ovarian cancer.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF), Malignant Mesothelioma, Mesothelial Cells, Epithelium, Frozen Section, Carcinoma.

Related studies

• Chrysotile asbestos upregulates gene expression and production of alpha-receptors for platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-AA) on rat lung fibroblasts — J.C. Bonner, A.L. Goodell, et al. (1993)
• Expression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in human malignant mesothelioma cell lines and relationship to platelet-derived growth factor A and insulin-like growth factor 2 expression — A.W. Langerak, K.A. Williamson, et al. (1995)
• Chrysotile asbestos induces PDGF-A chain-dependent proliferation in human and rat lung fibroblasts in vitro — J.A. Lasky, J.C. Bonner, et al. (1996)
• Epidemiology, etiology, and fertility drugs in ovarian epithelial carcinoma: where are we today? — Z. Shoham (1994)
• Upregulation of the PDGF-alpha receptor precedes asbestos-induced lung fibrosis in rats — J.A. Lasky, B. Tonthat, et al. (1998)
• Mesothelioma cell proliferation through autocrine activation of PDGF-ββ receptor — M. Honda, T. Kanno, et al. (2012)

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