Inhibitory effects of recombinant human Mullerian inhibiting substance on cell proliferation in two human ovarian carcinoma cell lines

AIM: To investigate the inhibitory effects of recombinant human Mullerian inhibiting substance on cell proliferation in human ovarian carcinoma cells (OVCAR8 and SKOV3 cell lines). METHODS: The expression of MISIIR protein and the localization of MISIIR protein were analyzed by Western blotting and confocal spectral microscopy, respectively. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were detected by flow cytometry (FCM). Cell viability was determined via MTT method. Clone formation test was used to detect oncogenicity in vitro.RESULTS: The MISIIR protein expression in OVCAR8 cells but not in SKOV3 cells was observed. MISIIR expression was seen on the OVCAR8 cell surface and in the cytoplasm with both antibodies. After treated with rhMIS for 48 h, the cell viability was significantly decreased in OVCAR8 cells. rhMIS inhibited the oncogenicity of OVCAR8 cells greatly. The cell apoptosis of OVCAR8 cell exposed to 10 mg/L rhMIS was (31.3±2.1)%, and OVCAR8 cells in the G1 phase were increased by (70.4±3.0)%. Compared to SKOV3 cells the differences were significant (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Recombinant human Mullerian inhibiting substance suppresses the growth of MISIIR-positive ovarian cancer cells by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. We predict that rhMIS might be a new target to treat human ovarian malignancies.