Roles of metformin-mediated girdin expression in metastasis of epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract

Antimetastatic effect of Metformin has been documented in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Presently, we investigated the regulatory mechanism of Metformin in EOC metastasis. First, Girdin was significantly enhanced in EOC tumorous tissues and cell lines. Seconded, knockdown of Girdin significantly suppressed EOC cell viability, migration, and invasion, while upregulation of Girdin produced the opposite effects in vitro and facilitated lung metastasis in EOC cell xenograft in vivo. In addition, we confirmed that the inhibitory effect of Metformin on Girdin expression. Mechanistically, the oncogenic effects of Girdin could be reversed by LY294002 (an AKT pathway inhibitor) and Metformin. These results suggested that Metformin attenuated EOC metastasis through Girdin and targeting Girdin may be a promising therapeutic strategy for EOC in the future.

Keywords: Girdin; Metformin; epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC); metastasis.