We found previously that the laminin-1-derived synthetic
peptide AG73 (
LQVQLSIR) promoted
ovarian cancer cell
metastasis in vivo. We have now studied the role of this
metastasis-promoting
peptide in vitro using TAC3
ovarian cancer cells, which display anchorage-independent growth and form multicellular spheroids. Our goal is to better understand how this
peptide can regulate
metastasis in vivo. We found that the exogenous addition of either
laminin-1 or
peptide AG73 stimulated the formation and growth of the spheroids. Western blot analysis indicated that
laminin-1 enhanced the expression of
integrin beta1, and that AG73
peptide enhanced expression of
syndecan-1 and downstream effectors, including
mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and extracellular signal-related
kinase (ERK), and also
phosphatidylinositol (PI)-3
kinase/AKT activity signaling. The soluble
peptide AG73T, which is a scramble
peptide of AG73, was able to disaggregate the laminin-1-induced spheroids. Furthermore, the disaggregated cells were twice as sensitive to
cisplatin as the intact spheroids. The
AG73T peptide in the presence of
laminin-1 suppressed expression of
integrin beta1 and its downstream effectors, including MAPK/ERK and PI3/AKT activity signaling. The
MEK inhibitor
U0126 reduced TAC3 cell growth more effectively in the presence of both
laminin-1 and AG73T than in the presence of
laminin-1 alone. Inhibition of the PI3-K cascade with
LY294002 was also more effective in the presence of
laminin-1 and AG73T. The increased sensitivity to
cisplatin in the presence of AG73T may be due to the greater bioavailability of the
drug to the free-floating cells over the spheroids. These findings suggest a novel function of AG73T in
ovarian cancer and help to define mechanisms important in
ovarian cancer spheroid formation and spread.