Integrin-linked kinase : a potential player in ovarian cancer metastesis [abstract]

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the fifth leading cause of overall cancer death among American women. In 2008, 15,520 deaths were directly attributed to EOC, and an additional 21,650 cases were diagnosed. When EOC is diagnosed prior to metastatic dissemination, the overall 5 year survival rate is 93%; however, over 75% of women with EOC are diagnosed with metastasis already present, dropping the survival rate to less than 20%. Activation of a [beta]1 integrin cytoplasmic domain interactor, integrin-linked kinase (ILK), has been shown to regulate several biological processes that suppress anoikis and promote invasion, two key events in ovarian cancer metastasis. This study attempts to characterize the overall expression of ILK in ovarian cancer cell lines and tissues through immunofluorescence analyses, Western blotting, and real time PCR. Preliminary results suggest that ILK activity is stimulated by collagen binding; and enhanced nuclear localization has been observed on collagen surfaces