Oncology reports
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Ovarian cancer (OC) metastasis has unique biological behavior and most commonly occurs via the transcoelomic route. Previously, we established a mouse xenograft model of human ovarian carcinoma and analyzed alterations in gene expression during metastasis. Among the genes that were differentially expressed more than 2-fold in the xenografts compared with the SK-OV-3 cells, we selected synaptotagmin-like protein 2 (SYTL2) and investigated the mechanisms regulating its expression and its gene function in OC. ⋯ We also found that overexpression of SYTL2 promoted metastatic potential, including increased migration and invasiveness in the ovarian carcinoma cells. Furthermore, we utilized publicly available gene expression data to confirm the correlation between SYTL2 expression and poor prognosis in serous-type OC patients. Our findings provide novel evidence for the direct association of SYTL2 with the metastatic potential of ovarian carcinoma cells and its influence on metastatic recurrence of OC.