Abstract A68: Increasing intracellular glucose levels decreased expression of Enolase-I promoting cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer cells

Cytoreductive surgery in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy has been used for more than four decades for treat ovarian cancer. Although initially most ovarian tumors respond well to cisplatin treatment, many of those tumors become resistant to chemotherapy. Although many mechanisms of cisplatin resistance have been proposed, the molecular mechanism leading to the cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer tumors has not been fully understood. In this study, we sought to identify novel proteins associated with the cisplatin resistance of ovarian cancer cells. A proteomic analysis showed 48 proteins differentially abundant in cisplatin-resistant (A2780CP20) compared to their counterpart cisplatin-sensitive (A2780) ovarian cancer cells. The quantitative analysis revealed low protein levels of Enolase-1 (ENO1) in A2780CP20 cells. Small-interference RNA (siRNA)-targeted ENO1 showed a reduction in the sensitivity of ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin treatment. In contrast, ectopic expression of ENO1 in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells reduced the sensitivity of these cells to cisplatin treatment. Since ENO1 is an enzyme involved in glucose metabolism, we evaluated ovarian cancer cells’ metabolic state by measuring their glucose consumption. Intracellular glucose uptake was measured in pairs of cisplatin-sensitive and cisplatin-resistant cells. The glucose content levels were higher in all cisplatin-resistant cells compared with their -sensitive counterparts. Overall, these results suggest that low levels of ENO1 are associated with the cisplatin resistance of ovarian cancer cells. Therefore, targeting the glycolytic pathways could be a strategy to overcome the cisplatin resistance of women with advanced and drug-resistant ovarian cancer. Citation Format: Robert J. Rabelo-Fernandez, Yasmarie Santana, Nilmary Grafals, Blanca Quinones, Ginette Santiago, Eunice Lozada, Jeyshka Reyes, Pablo E. Vivas-Mejia. Increasing intracellular glucose levels decreased expression of Enolase-I promoting cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Ovarian Cancer Research; 2019 Sep 13-16, 2019; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(13_Suppl):Abstract nr A68.