Abstract:

Objective To explore the effect of adverse psychological stress on the growth and epithelial growth factor receptor(EGFR),phosphorylated protein kinase B(p-Akt) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) expressions of human ovarian cancer cells transplanted into nude mice. Methods Twenty-four female BALB/c(nu/nu)nude mice, aged 4 to 6 week-old, were randomly divided into two groups (12 mice per group): the tumor bearing group in which the human ovarian cancer tissue block was transplanted into nude mice subcutaneously without stress treatment, and the tumor bearing with stress treatment group in which the human ovarian cancer tissue block was transplanted into nude mice subcutaneously with stress treatment. After mice were sacrificed, tumors were separated and weighted. The protein expressions of EGFR, p-Akt and VEGF in the two groups were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting method . Results The intensities of the immunohistochemical positive staining for EGFR,p-Akt,VEGF proteins in the tumor bearing with adverse stimulation group were higher than those in tumor bearing group. The results of Western blotting demonstrated that the intensities of the protein expressions for EGFR,p-Akt,VEGF in human bearing +stress group were higher than those in tumor bearing group. Conclusion The adverse psychological stress may promote the human ovarian cancer occurrence and development through by EGFR and its downstream PBK/AKT signal pathway.

Key words: Adverse psychological stress, Ovarian cancer, Epithelial growth factor receptor, Phosphorylated protein kinase B, Vascular endothelial growth factor, Western blotting, Mouse