Identification of beta2-microglobulin as a potential target for ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal gynecological cancers. Antibody-based therapy has emerged as an important therapeutic approach for an increasing number of malignancies. Here, we prepared an antibody pool against SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells, which could induce apoptosis of SKOV3 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Through SEREX analysis, beta 2-microglobulin (b2M) was identified as the potential target molecules of functional antibodies. The immune IgG (i-IgG) of antibody pool had little effects on other kinds of cancer cells, maybe because of the more secretion of b2M by SKOV3. Further studies indicated that specific antibody of b2M indeed also can inhibit the growth of SKOV3. In addition, overexpression of b2M could promote the growth of SKOV3 cells in vitro, by colony formation and anchorage-independent growth assay, at least partially through the activation of PI3K/Akt pathway. Thus, b2M could be a potential therapeutic target in ovarian cancer.