Homo sapiens Transcriptome or Gene expression

Chemoresistance and metastasis remain major challenges for the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). It has been proposed that identification of cancer stem cells (CSCs) through biomarkers might provide new insights into EOC development and personalized chemotherapy. In the efforts to find biomarkes for EOC CSCs, we identified CDC50A, a subunit of P4-ATPases, through mass spectrum-based analysis of differentially expressed membrane proteins. The CDC50A+ EOC cells displayed self-renewal, differentiation and chemo-resistance properties of CSCs both in vitro and in vivo, and possessed molecular profile consistent with their stemness. Downregulation of CDC50A inhibited the ability of ovarian CSCs to self-renew.The CDC50A+ cells also exhibited mesenchymal phenotype and were increased in metastatic tumors. Furthermore, in retrospective analysis, CDC50A expression in tumor tissues is associated with clinicchemoresistance, PFS and OS of EOC patients. Thus, CDC50A is a marker for EOC CSCs and may serve as a novel therapeutic target.