Abstract
One of the major difficulties in the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the
high rate of recurrent disease. This is thought to be due to the survival of a population
of chemo-resistant cells within the tumor, the ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSCs), that
are able to regenerate the tumor following chemotherapy. Therefore, the identification
of a compund that can target the OCSCs is one of the main steps in improving overall
survival of ovarian cancer patients. The objective of this study was to determine the
effect of N-t-boc-Daidzein, a novel daidzain derivative, on OCSCs. The efficacy of this
compound was evaluated in OCSC and mature ovarian cancer cell (mOCC) lines
isolated from malignant ovarian cancer asicites. Cells were treated with increasing
concentrations of N-t-boc-Daidzein (0.003-10 μM) and cell growth was monitored by
“real time in vitro micro-imaging” using the IncuCyte system. Cell viability was
measured using the CellTiter 96 Assay. Apoptosis was determined by Caspase-Glo
3/7, 8, and 9 assays. The components of the apoptotic cascade were characterized by
Western blot analysis. N-t-boc-Daidzein was able to significantly inhibit cell growth and
decrease cell viability of OCSC as well as mOCC cells in a dose and time dependent
maner. This effect was due to the induction of apoptosis, which is characterized by
caspase activation, XIAP and AKT degradation, and mitochondrial depolarization. This
study describes a novel compound that can target the OCSCs. These findings may
provide vital aide in improving overall survival in patients with EOC.