Immunohistochemical Analysis of PGC-1α and ERRα Expression Reveals Their Clinical Significance in Human Ovarian Cancer

• Main Authors: Huang X, Ruan G, Liu G, Gao Y, Sun P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2020-12-01
• Series: OncoTargets and Therapy
• Subjects: prognostic significance; estrogen-related receptor alpha; immunohistochemistry; ovarian malignance; peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/immunohistochemical-analysis-of-pgc-1alpha-and-erralpha-expression-rev-peer-reviewed-article-OTT
• ISSN: 1178-6930

Xiqi Huang,1 Guanyu Ruan,1,2 Guifen Liu,1 Yuqin Gao,1 Pengming Sun1,2 1Laboratory of Gynecologic Oncology, Fujian Provincial Maternity and Children’s Health Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Key Laboratory of Women and Children’s Critical Diseases Research, Fujian Provincial Maternity and Children’s Health Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Pengming SunKey Laboratory of Women and Children’s Critical Diseases Research, Fujian Provincial Maternity and Children’s Health Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, No. 18. Daoshan Road, Gulou District, Fuzhou, 350001 Fujian, People’s Republic of ChinaTel [phone]Fax [phone]Email [e-mail]: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α) and estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα) play a vital role in various human cancers. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the PGC-1α/ERRα axis could serve as an effective prognostic marker in ovarian cancer (OC).Patients and Methods: We investigated the expression of both PGC-1α and ERRα in 42 ovarian cancer and 31 noncancerous ovarian samples by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The relationship between the expression of PGC-1α and ERRα in OC and the clinical characteristics of patients was evaluated. In addition, data from the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database were collected to validate the prognostic significance of PGC-1α and ERRα mRNA expression in OC.Results: PGC-1α and ERRα showed notably higher expression in OC tissues than in noncancerous tissues (P=0.0059, P=0.002). Moreover, in patients with OC, high ERRα and PGC-1α/ERRα expression significantly correlated with tumor differentiation (P=0.027; P=0.04), lymph node status (P=0.023; P=0.021), CA125 (P=0.036; P=0.021), and HE4 (P=0.021; P=0.05), while high PGC-1α expression was only significantly associated with tumor differentiation (P=0.029). The combined analysis of high PGC-1α and ERRα expression revealed a tendency towards poor cancer-specific survival (P=0.1276).Conclusion: PGC-1α and ERRα are overexpressed in OC and might be significant prognostic factors for this cancer.Keywords: prognostic significance, estrogen-related receptor alpha, immunohistochemistry, ovarian malignance, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha