Dr. Susanna Greer and researchers from the University of Georgia found prohibiting enzymes (HDAC1 and DNMT1) could help decrease chemoresistance in ovarian cancer cells, according to a May 5 university release.
Ovarian cancer has a 60 percent mortality rate and a five-year survival rate for less than 30 percent of of women in the advanced stages of the disease, according to the news release.ase.
Greer, associate professor of biology at Georgia State, said Ovarian cancer is usually found late because of its resistance to chemotherapy treatment.
The research team investigated the suppression of RGS10 in ovarian cancer cells by looking at epigentic regulators. RGS10 regulates cancer cell growth and survival, according to the release.
“Levels of RGS10 play important roles in whether or not cancer cells survive chemotherapy. Our recent work demonstrates two enzymes, HDAC1 and DNMT1, are critical in suppressing RGS10 expression in chemoresistant ovarian cancer cells.” she said. “Our next steps are to determine ways in which we can manipulate the impact of these enzymes, control RGS10 expression, and reverse the challenges of chemoresistant ovarian cancer.”
HDAC1 and DNMT1 were decreased and blocked in cells leading to a significant increase in RGS10 expression and cell death, according to Greer.
Ercan Cacan, Greer’s graduate assistant, said the decrease in chemoresistant cancer cells could lead to a new therapeutic way of treating ovarian cancer.
“Our future studies in the Greer lab will determine if inhibiting the epigenetic impact of HDAC1 and DNMT1 on RGS10 genes can be considered as an adjuvant therapeutic approach in treating ovarian cancer,” Cacan said.
