Fibroblast activation protein-α promotes ovarian cancer cell proliferation and invasion via extracellular and intracellular signaling mechanisms

Abstract Fibroblast activation protein-α (FAPα) is secreted by activated stromal fibroblasts and can promote ovarian cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion. However, the molecular mechanism by which FAPα promotes tumor cell proliferation and invasion is unknown. The role of the non-enzymatic activities of FAPα in tumor migration and invasion and the intracellular and extracellular signaling mechanisms of FAPα were investigated. In this study, we confirm that FAPα promote ovarian cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion by extracellular and intracellular signaling mechanisms. These results provide evidence that FAPα, together with integrin α3β1 and the uPAR signaling complex, mediate cancer cell migration in the HO-8910PM cell line via the small GTPase Rac1. FAPα-mediated upregulation of p-ERK occurred in a time-dependent manner.