Effects of Pleiotrophin (PTN) on the resistance to paclitaxel in ovarian cancer cells

The pathogenesis of an ovarian disease is connected with PTN and its receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor Z1 (PTPRZ1). Paclitaxel is the first-line drug for the therapy of ovarian cancer. With the increment of paclitaxel chemotherapy, paclitaxel obstruction happens in the late phase of therapy frequently. By treating A2780 and SKOV-3 cells with PTN, we found the development of the two cell lines was enhanced. Different concentrations of PTN were added to A2780 and SKOV-3 cells treated with paclitaxel and the results of MTT showed that the inhibitory effect of paclitaxel on these two cell lines was weakened. The results of apoptosis assays showed that PTN could slow down the rate of apoptosis and its concentration dependence in both cell lines. To further investigate the impact of PTN on the paclitaxel responsiveness of ovarian malignant growth cells, A2780 and SKOV-3 cells were transfected with sh-PTN-1, sh-PTN-2 and sh-NC plasmids. The results of PCR and Western Blot showed that both RNA-interfering plasmids could inhibit PTN in A2780 and SKOV-3 cells. The results of MTT showed that the inhibitory effect of paclitaxel on cells transfected with sh-PTN-1 expanded compared with the benchmark group. Apoptosis assays showed that the complete apoptosis pace of A2780 and SKOV-3 cells with sh-PTN-1 plasmid induced by paclitaxel was accelerated obviously compared with the benchmark group. To summarize, the results suggested that PTN could enhance the resistance to paclitaxel in ovarian cancer cells, which provides a groundwork for studying on drug resistance of cancer cells to paclitaxel and a new perspective for ovarian cancer therapy.