Abstract 1809: Reversal of Taxol resistance in ovarian cancer cell lines by IGF pathway inhibition

Abstract Our group recently reported increased insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) expression and AKT activation in ovarian cancer cells following treatment with the microtubule-stabilizing agent Taxol. We hypothesized that IGF2 is a modulator of Taxol resistance. Therefore, we developed cell line models of Taxol-resistance in A2780 and HEY, two ovarian cell lines, by repeated treatment with increasing Taxol concentrations, with or without concurrent verapamil, a p-glycoprotein inhibitor. The involvement of IGF2 in drug resistance was evaluated by real time PCR, immunoblotting, siRNA knockdown of IGF2, and small-molecule inhibition of the IGF1 Receptor (IGF1R; which is the major receptor for IGF2). In both of the resistant cell lines (A2780-Tx8Vp, 3-fold Taxol-resistance; and HEY-T30, 40-fold Taxol-resistance), IGF2 mRNA expression, measured by real time PCR, was significantly elevated compared with the parental cell lines, while IGF1R expression, assessed by immunoblotting, was mildly decreased. IGF1R inhibition by the small molecule NVP-AEW541 dramatically re-sensitized both resistant cell lines to Taxol, and cell cycle analysis demonstrated that concurrent NVP-AEW541 and Taxol significantly enhanced G2/M arrest, compared with Taxol alone. While A2780-Tx8Vp cells did not express detectable mdr1/abcb1 (encoding p-glycoprotein), HEY-T30 cells did over-express mdr1 (and were sensitized to Taxol treatment by verapamil). To exclude a possible interaction with p-glycoprotein, we evaluated IGF2 siRNA as an alternate, more specific approach of targeting the IGF pathway in HEY-T30 cells. It was found that IGF2 depletion by siRNA significantly enhanced the antiproliferative effect of Taxol in these cells. In summary, IGF2 modulates Taxol resistance in these ovarian cancer cell lines. IGF pathway inhibition, by IGF2 depletion or by inhibition of its major receptor IGF1R, reverses Taxol resistance in these cells. Such novel findings suggest that IGF2 could be a therapeutic target for ovarian cancer, particularly in the setting of Taxol resistance. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1809.