Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been reported to participate in the formation of supportive
tumor stroma. The abilities of proliferation and invasion of human
epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells were significantly enhanced when indirectly cocultured with human omental adipose-derived MSCs (O-ADSCs) in vitro. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, EOC cells were cultured with
conditioned medium (CM) from O-ADSCs (O-ADSC), and the effect of O-ADSC CM on the proteomic profile of EOC cells was assessed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), followed by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. The 2-DE assays revealed a global increase in
protein expression in the EOC cells treated with CM. Nine
proteins were identified from 11 selected
protein spots with differential expression
after treatment with CM from O-ADSCs. All the nine
proteins have been linked to
carcinoma and apoptosis, and the migration ability of
tumor cells can be regulated by these
proteins. Moreover, the upregulation of
prohibitin and
serine/
arginine-rich
splicing factor 1 in EOC cells treated with CM was further confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. These results suggest that O-ADSCs affect the proteomic profile of EOC cells via paracrine mechanism in favor of EOC progression.