Peptidome characterization of ovarian cancer serum and the identification of tumor suppressive peptide ZYX(36-58)

BACKGROUND: Several serum biomarkers, including miRNA, mRNA, protein and peptides in cancer patients are also important mediators of cancer progression. METHODS: The differentially expressed peptides between the serum of ovarian cancer patients and healthy controls were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The function of the peptides was analyzed by CCK8, transwell, wound healing, and flow cytometry analysis. And the mechanism of the peptides was analyzed by peptide pull down, and high-throughput RNA-sequencing. RESULTS: A total of 7 and 46 peptides were significantly up-regulated and down-regulated in the serum of ovarian cancer patients, respectively. The precursor proteins of the differentially expressed peptides mainly involved in the complement and coagulation cascades, platelet activation, phagosome and focal adhesion pathways. Interestingly, focal adhesion, platelet activation, platelet-cancer cell interaction, complement activation, coagulation cascades and phagosome formation are all critical factors for cancer initiation or progression, which indicated that the peptides may play a crucial role in cancer development. And we identified one peptide, ZYX(36-58), which was down-regulated in the serum of ovarian cancer patients, significantly inhibited invasion and migration and promoted the apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells. Mechanistic study indicated that ZYX(36-58) interacted with and increased the protein level of the antiangiogenic protein thrombospondin-1 (TSP1), which has a tumor suppressive effect on ovarian cancer. CONCLUSIONS: ZYX(36-58,) which was significantly down-regulated in the serum of ovarian cancer patients can significantly inhibit cell invasion, migration and promote apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells by binding and up-regulating TSP1 protein expression.