Gene expression profile of human ovarian cancer cell lines in vitro

We have previously described how TNF-α, IL-6, CXCR4 and the CXCR4 ligand CXCL12 are expressed by human ovarian cancer cells in vitro. By comparing four ovarian cancer cell lines with varying levels of constitutive TNF-α production we found that CXCR4, CXCL12, TNF-α and IL-6 were linked in an autocrine network in malignant cells that had an effect on tumour growth and angiogenesis in one xenograft model of ovarian cancer. Using Affymetrix microarrays we compared in vitro gene expression in parental IGROV-1 and TOV21 cells (high CXCR4 expression) with TOV112D and SKOV-3 cells (low CXCR4 expression). Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) of those genes which were differentially expressed between cell lines with high versus low CXCR4 expression revealed evidence for a cell autonomous signaling network involving CXCR4, TNF-a, IL6 and Notch pathways in ovarian cancer cells. The Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome U133Plus 2.0 arrays were used to define gene expression profiles in each cell line.