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Clinical and Biological Significance of Tissue Transglutaminase in Ovarian Carcinoma

Departments of ¹ Gynecologic Oncology, ² Experimental Therapeutics, ³ Pathology, and ⁴ Cancer Biology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas and ⁵ Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Kyung-ju, Korea

Requests for reprints: Anil K. Sood, Departments of Gynecologic Oncology and Cancer Biology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Unit 1362, 1155 Herman Pressler, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: 713-745-5266; Fax: 713-792-7586; E-mail: asood{at}mdanderson.org.

Key Words: ovarian cancer • SiRNA • TG2

Tissue type transglutaminase (TG2) is a unique multifunctional protein that plays a role in many steps in the cancer metastatic cascade. Here, we examined the clinical (n = 93 epithelial ovarian cancers) and biological (in vitro adhesion, invasion, and survival and in vivo therapeutic targeting) significance of TG2 in ovarian cancer. The overexpression of TG2 was associated with significantly worse overall patient survival in both univariate and multivariate analyses. Transfection of TG2 into SKOV3ip1 cells promoted attachment and spreading on fibronectin-coated surfaces and increased the in vitro invasive potential of these cells. Conversely, TG2 silencing with small interfering RNA (siRNA) of HeyA8 cells significantly decreased the invasive potential of the cells and also increased docetaxel-induced cell death. In vivo therapy experiments using chemotherapy-sensitive (HeyA8) and chemotherapy-resistant (HeyA8-MDR and RMG2) models showed significant antitumor activity both with TG2 siRNA-1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine alone and in combination with docetaxel chemotherapy. This antitumor activity was related to decreased proliferation and angiogenesis and increased tumor cell apoptosis in vivo. Taken together, these findings indicate that TG2 overexpression is an adverse prognostic factor in ovarian carcinoma and TG2 targeting may be an attractive therapeutic approach. [Cancer Res 2008;68(14):5849–58]