Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Biology

Department

Biology

First Reader/Committee Chair

Bournias-Vardiabasis, Nicole

Abstract

High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer (HGSOC) has a 5-year survival rate of less than 50%. Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest gynecological diseases and the 7th most common female cancer worldwide. Ovarian cancer patients generally have a poor prognosis despite the relatively successful treatments. When conventional cancer treatments, such as cisplatin chemotherapy and photon irradiation, are administered, residual cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) can survive, leading to CSC enrichment. CSCs are a small population of cancer cells that exhibit stem-like characteristics: quiescence (slowing of the cell cycle), differentiation, proliferation, and self-renewal to regenerate new CSCs. We hypothesized that providing cancer treatments such as irradiation and chemotherapies enriches the CSC population. We aimed to determine the induction of CSC activity after conventional treatment in 2 ovarian cell lines: OVASHO and PDX4 (patient derived xenograft) at a 72-hour time point after treatment. Our project used a GFP reporter system, SORE-6, which fluoresces in the presence of SOX2 and OCT4, core pluripotency factors to determine levels of stemness. Here, we observed a dose-dependent increase in stemness in PDX4 after cisplatin and photon irradiation treatment. In response to photon irradiation, OVASHO exhibited a dose-dependent response and an overall increase in GFP-expression in response to cisplatin. We also observed notable changes in mRNA gene expression of OCT4 and SOX2 in response to cisplatin treatment. These results indicate that cancer cell stemness is enriched after treatment in association to CSC persistence and/or cancer stem cell reprograming.

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