Knockout of EGFL6 by CRISPR/Cas9 Mediated Inhibition of Tumor Angiogenesis in Ovarian Cancer

Tumor angiogenesis plays an important role in the progression and metastasis of ovarian cancer. EGFL6 protein is highly expressed in ovarian cancer and has been proposed to play an important role in promoting tumor angiogenesis. Here, a CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to knockout theEGFL6gene in the ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3, using specific guide RNA targeting the exons ofEGFL6. The knockout ofEGFL6markedly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of SKOV3 cells, as well as promoted apoptosis of tumor cells. In the nude mouse model of ovarian cancer, knockout ofEGFL6remarkably inhibited tumor growth and angiogenesis. The transcript profile assays detected 4,220 differentially expressed genes in the knockout cells, including 87 genes that were correlated to proliferation, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis. Moreover, Western blotting confirmed thatEGFL6knockout downregulated the FGF-2/PDGFB signaling pathway. Thus, the results of this study indicated thatEGFL6could regulate cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis in ovarian cancer cells by regulating the FGF-2/PDGFB signaling pathway.