Fig 3. Effect of MUC16 in A2780.
A) Matrigel invasion assay for A2780 cell lines transfected with either phrGFP control vector or with MUC16 carboxy-terminal expression vectors MUC16c114-GFP and MUC16c344-GFP. Each assay was performed two or more times in triplicate and counted by hand. Results were compared to the phrGFP control, and MUC16c114 and MUC16c344 transfected cell lines showed significant matrigel invasion compared to the phrGFP vector control. The MUC16c344 cell line is also significant (## p = 0.0018) compared to the MUC16c114 cell line. B) Effect of MUC16 expression on ERK/AKT signaling. A2780 cells were examined for activation of the ERK/AKT signaling pathways. Phosphorylation of ERK1/2 (pT202/Y204) and AKT (S473) was increased following expression of each of the MUC16 expression constructs. As with 3T3, activation of both pathways was seen in each of the MUC16 transfected cell lines. β-Actin normalized densitometry quantification values are shown below each Western blot. C) MUC16-positive tumor growth in athymic nude mice. Two million tumor cells were introduced into the flank of 15 nu/nu mice, and the mice were observed for tumor formation. Tumors were measured by calipers twice weekly. The differences in mean tumor volume were significantly greater for mice bearing any of the MUC16c114 or MUC16c344 tumors at day 28, as indicated in the figure.