Title:A High-throughput Screening of a Chemical Compound Library in Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells
Volume: 21
Issue: 1
Author(s): F. Ricci*, L. Carrassa, M. S. Christodoulou, D. Passarella, B. Michel, R. Benhida, N. Martinet, A. Hunyadi, E. Ioannou, V. Roussis, L. Musso, S. Dallavalle, R. Silvestri, N. Westwood, M. Mori, C. Ingallina, B. Botta, E. Kavetsou, A. Detsi, Z. Majer, F. Hudecz, S. Bosze, B. Kaminska, T.V. Hansen, P. Bertrand, C. M. Athanassopoulos and G. Damia*
Affiliation:
- IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156 Milan,Italy
- IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156 Milan,Italy
Keywords:
Cancer stem cell, chemical compounds library, oncology screening, high-throughput screening, ovarian cancer,
therapy resistance.
Abstract: Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer has a poor prognosis, mostly due to its late
diagnosis and the development of drug resistance after a first platinum-based regimen. The presence
of a specific population of “cancer stem cells” could be responsible of the relapse of the tumor and
the development of resistance to therapy. For this reason, it would be important to specifically target
this subpopulation of tumor cells in order to increase the response to therapy.
Method: We screened a chemical compound library assembled during the COST CM1106 action to
search for compound classes active in targeting ovarian stem cells. We here report the results of the
high-throughput screening assay in two ovarian cancer stem cells and the differentiated cells derived
from them.
Results and Conclusion: Interestingly, there were compounds active only on stem cells, only on
differentiated cells, and compounds active on both cell populations. Even if these data need to be
validated in ad hoc dose response cytotoxic experiments, the ongoing analysis of the compound
structures will open up to mechanistic drug studies to select compounds able to improve the
prognosis of ovarian cancer patients.
