Upregulation of sulfatase-1 decreases metastatic potential of SKOV3 human ovarian cancer cells in vitro and in vivo

Aim: Sulfatase-1 (SULF-1) is one of the genes associated with the inhibition of several signaling pathways by desulfating HSPG in cancer cells. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of SULF-1 upregulation on SKOV3 ovarian cancer cell line and its influence on cell proliferation, migration, invasion in vitro, and lymph node metastasis in 615 inbred mice in vivo.

Materials and methods: In in vitro study, we upregulated SULF-1 in SKOV3 cells using SULF-1 expression plasmid. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting were used to measure SULF-1 expression levels after stable upregulation. CCK-8, flow cytometry, Boyden Transwell-chamber, and scratch-wound healing assay were performed to explore the effect of SULF-1 on the proliferation, migration, and invasion. In in vivo study, immunohistochemistry and eosin stain (H and E) were used to evaluate the expression level of SULF-1 gene and to measure the lymph node metastatic rate of mice inoculated with SULF-1-SKOV3-expressed plasmid, SKOV3, and Nc-SKOV3 cells.

Results: qRT-PCR and western blot assay confirmed that SULF-1 was upregulated both in mRNA and protein levels. Following SULF-1 stable upregulation, the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were significantly reduced in the SULF-1 upregulated cells (SULF-1-SKOV3) compared with the nontransfected (SKOV3) and the nonspecific sequence transfected cells (Nc-SKOV3). IHC results showed that SULF-1 was highly expressed after stably upregulation in SKOV3 cells, and H and E stain confirmed that the mice inoculated with SULF-1-SKOV3 cells decreased lymph node metastatic rate compared to the two control groups.

Conclusions: Our findings showed that overexpression of SULF-1 in SKOV3 results in a decrease in ovarian cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and decreased lymph node metastasis in vivo. This finding could have a potential therapeutic window in the management of ovarian cancer.