Cold atmospheric plasma-activated liquid inhibits peritoneal metastasis in drug-resistant ovarian cancer by targeting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
{"title":"Cold atmospheric plasma-activated liquid inhibits peritoneal metastasis in drug-resistant ovarian cancer by targeting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.","authors":"Jinren Liu, Xiangni Wang, Yixin Cui, Jiajia Lu, Zhirou He, Yulin Xu, Rongrong Li, Guimin Xu, Lingge Gao, Xiaolin Fan, Xili Wu, Xingmin Shi, Guanjun Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s10585-025-10367-w","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ovarian cancer remains a significant challenge in oncology due to its aggressive nature, late-stage diagnosis, and high rates of chemoresistance, particularly to platinum-based therapies like cisplatin. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key driver of ovarian cancer metastasis and drug resistance, highlighting the need for novel therapeutic strategies. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) and plasma-activated liquids (PAL), including plasma-activated medium (PAM) and saline (PAS), have emerged as promising anticancer agents, generating reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) that selectively target cancer cells. This study investigates the potential of PAL to inhibit the invasion and metastasis of cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells and explores its synergistic effects with cisplatin. In vitro, PAM reduced proliferation, migration, and invasion of cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells (A2780/DDP and SKOV3/DDP) while downregulating EMT-related proteins (N-cadherin, β-catenin, vimentin). H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> in PAM inhibit the PI3K/AKT/GSK3β pathway, promoting degradation of EMT regulators Snail, Slug, and β-catenin. Combining PAM with cisplatin enhanced therapeutic efficacy, reducing cell viability and metastatic potential. In vivo studies using an orthotopic mouse model further confirmed that PAS combined with low-dose cisplatin effectively suppressed tumor growth and metastasis with minimal side effects. These findings underscore the potential of PAL as an adjuvant therapy for cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer, offering a novel approach to overcome drug resistance and inhibit metastasis. Future research should focus on optimizing treatment protocols and elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the synergistic effects of PAL and cisplatin.</p>","PeriodicalId":10267,"journal":{"name":"Clinical & Experimental Metastasis","volume":"42 5","pages":"46"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical & Experimental Metastasis","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10585-025-10367-w","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ONCOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Ovarian cancer remains a significant challenge in oncology due to its aggressive nature, late-stage diagnosis, and high rates of chemoresistance, particularly to platinum-based therapies like cisplatin. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key driver of ovarian cancer metastasis and drug resistance, highlighting the need for novel therapeutic strategies. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) and plasma-activated liquids (PAL), including plasma-activated medium (PAM) and saline (PAS), have emerged as promising anticancer agents, generating reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) that selectively target cancer cells. This study investigates the potential of PAL to inhibit the invasion and metastasis of cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells and explores its synergistic effects with cisplatin. In vitro, PAM reduced proliferation, migration, and invasion of cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells (A2780/DDP and SKOV3/DDP) while downregulating EMT-related proteins (N-cadherin, β-catenin, vimentin). H2O2 in PAM inhibit the PI3K/AKT/GSK3β pathway, promoting degradation of EMT regulators Snail, Slug, and β-catenin. Combining PAM with cisplatin enhanced therapeutic efficacy, reducing cell viability and metastatic potential. In vivo studies using an orthotopic mouse model further confirmed that PAS combined with low-dose cisplatin effectively suppressed tumor growth and metastasis with minimal side effects. These findings underscore the potential of PAL as an adjuvant therapy for cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer, offering a novel approach to overcome drug resistance and inhibit metastasis. Future research should focus on optimizing treatment protocols and elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the synergistic effects of PAL and cisplatin.
期刊介绍:
The Journal''s scope encompasses all aspects of metastasis research, whether laboratory-based, experimental or clinical and therapeutic. It covers such areas as molecular biology, pharmacology, tumor biology, and clinical cancer treatment (with all its subdivisions of surgery, chemotherapy and radio-therapy as well as pathology and epidemiology) insofar as these disciplines are concerned with the Journal''s core subject of metastasis formation, prevention and treatment.