The up-regulation of PAK2 indicates unfavorable prognosis in patients with serous epithelial ovarian cancer and contributes to paclitaxel resistance in ovarian cancer cells

Abstract

Background The main challenge in treating ovarian cancer is chemotherapy resistance. Previous studies have shown that PAK2 is highly expressed in various cancers. This research investigates whether increased PAK2 expression contributes to chemo-resistance and poor prognosis in ovarian cancer. Methods Initially, bioinformatics analysis was used to assess the importance of PAK2 mRNA up-regulation in ovarian cancer. This was then validated using tissue microarray to confirm PAK2 protein expression and localization in clinical samples. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify potential risk factors for chemo-resistance in serous epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), while multivariate Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis were conducted to ascertain prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with serous EOC. In vitro experiments were conducted to verify if inhibiting PAK2 expression could increase A2780/Taxol cells’ sensitivity to paclitaxel, as shown by evaluating cell proliferation, apoptosis, transwell, and clone formation. Additionally, the interaction between PAK2, lnc-SNHG1, and miR-216b-5p was verified using RIP and luciferase reporter assays. Rescue experiments were undertaken to examine the influence of the lnc-SNHG1/miR-216b-5p/PAK2 axis on the development of paclitaxel resistance in A2780/Taxol cells. Results The bioinformatics analysis indicated a notable increase in PAK2 expression in ovarian malignant tumors compared to adjacent tissues, particularly in patients with stage III-IV disease compared to those with stage I-II disease ( P = 0.0056). Elevated levels of PAK2 were linked to reduced OS in ovarian cancer patients, although no significant association was observed with DFS. Immunohistochemistry findings further supported these results, showing positive PAK2 protein expression in chemo-resistant serous EOC tissues, predominantly localized in the cytoplasm, which correlated with poorer OS and DFS outcomes. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the downregulation of PAK2 in A2780/Taxol cells led to a reduction in colony formation, an increase in apoptosis, and a diminished capacity for cell invasion. Subsequent analysis confirmed that lnc-SNHG1 functions as a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) by interacting with miR-216b-5p and regulating PAK2 expression. Rescue experiments demonstrated that lnc-SNHG1 induces resistance to paclitaxel in A2780/Taxol cells by modulating the miR-216b-5p/PAK2 axis. Conclusions PAK2 shows promise as a predictor of chemotherapy resistance and poor outcomes in ovarian cancer, indicating its potential use as a treatment target to overcome this resistance. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-024-12969-1.