The Effect of HuArgI (Co)-PEG5000 on The Migration of Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Ovarian cancer being the first cause of death in gynecological diseases, paves the way towards increasing the search for a targeted therapy that could control the metastasis of a late-stage diagnosed ovarian cancer. HuArgI (Co)-PEG5000 is a potential drug to target cancers that depend on exogenous sources of arginine and cannot synthesize their own. In this study, we hypothesized that HuArgI (Co)- PEG5000 can decrease the migration of ovarian cancer cells. Our results show a decrease in the migratory rate of the cells and their rate in wound closure. The second thing we looked into was the adhesion of those cells and the formation of focal adhesions. The number and area of focal adhesions were quantified and the results show a decrease in the area and number of focal adhesions upon treating with HuArgI (Co)-PEG5000. Finally, we looked at the effect of HuArgI (Co)-PEG5000 on 3D motility of the ovarian cancer cell line, using a collagen based assay. It showed that SKOV3 cell line does not show significant invasiveness to collagen. In conclusion, we noticed an effect on ovarian cancer by treating the cells with HuArgI (Co)-PEG5000 which opens the way for further studies on the effect of arginine deprivation and autophagy induction on the migration of ovarian cancer.