Gene expression profiling after RNA interference of CXCR4 in human ovarian cancer cell line IGROV-1.

In the past three years the role of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in tumour promotion and progression has been intensively studied. The chemokine receptor CXCR4 and its ligand CXCL12 are commonly expressed in malignant cells from primary tumours, metastases and also in malignant cell lines. To investigate the biological significance of this receptor/ligand pair, we knocked-down CXCR4 expression in ovarian cancer cell line IGROV-1 using shRNA, and established stable cell lines. Using Affymetrix microarrays we compared in vitro gene expression in parental IGROV-1 and IGROV-Mock cells with two clones of IGROV-shCXCR4 cells. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) of those genes which were altered by RNA interference of CXCR4 revealed evidence for a cell autonomous signaling network involving CXCR4, TNF-a, IL6 and Notch pathways in ovarian cancer cells. Keywords: Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome U133Plus 2.0 The Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome U133Plus 2.0 arrays were used to define gene expression profiles in each cell line.