The neuroepithelial origin of ovarian carcinomas explained through an epithelial-mesenchymal-ectodermal transition enhanced by cisplatin

Autor: David Díaz-Carballo, Ayesha Safoor, Sahitya Saka, Adrien Noa-Bolaño, Flevy D’Souza, Jacqueline Klein, Ali H. Acikelli, Sascha Malak, Udo Rahner, Amin T. Turki, Anne Höppner, Annabelle Kamitz, Wanlu Song, Ye-guang Chen, Lalitha Kamada, Andrea Tannapfel, Sebastian Brinkmann, Crista Ochsenfarth, Dirk Strumberg
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Scientific Reports, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-34 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2045-2322
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-76984-9
Popis: Abstract Acquired resistance to platinum-derived cytostatics poses major challenges in ovarian carcinoma therapy. In this work, we show a shift in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process towards an “ectodermal” conversion of ovarian carcinoma cells in response to cisplatin treatment, a progression we have termed epithelial-mesenchymal-ectodermal transition (EMET). EMET appears to occur via the classical EMT as judged by a) the downregulation of several epithelial markers and b) upregulation of Vimentin, accompanied by various embryonal transcription factors and, importantly, a plethora of neuronal markers, consistent with ectodermal differentiation. Moreover, we isolated cells from ovarian carcinoma cultures exhibiting a dual neural/stemness signature and multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype. We also found that the epithelial cells differentiate from these neural/stem populations, indicating that the cell of origin in this tumor must in fact be a neural cell type with stemness features. Notably, some transcription factors like PAX6 and PAX9 were not localized in the nucleoplasm of these cells, hinting at altered nuclear permeability. In addition, the neuronal morphology was rapidly established when commercially available and primary ovarian carcinoma cells were cultured in the form of organoids. Importantly, we also identified a cell type in regular ovarian tissues, which possess similar neural/stemness features as observed in 2D or 3D cultures. The signature of this cell type is amplified in ovarian carcinoma tumors, suggesting a neuroepithelial origin of this tumor type. In conclusion, we propose that ovarian carcinomas harbor a small population of cells with an intrinsic neuronal/stemness/MDR phenotype, serving as the cradle from which ovarian carcinoma evolves.
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