There was an increased rate of metastasis to the lungs associated with HtrA1 downregulation in Hec1B cells compared to control cells with endogenous HtrA1 expression.
Taken together, these data reveal for the first time a novel function of HtrA1 in promoting anoikis by attenuating activation of EGFR/AKT pathway that may contribute to its metastasis suppression capacity, thus providing a possible explanation for the aggressive nature of human ovarian tumors with downregulated HtrA1.
Univariate analysis showed, that the only statistically significant correlation was found between the HtrA1 expression level detected in the primary tumors and in the lymph node metastases.
A polyclonal anti-HtrA1 serum demonstrated a significantly higher expression in primary melanomas when compared to unrelated metastatic lesions in a human melanoma tissue array, and down-modulation of HtrA1 expression in autologous lymph node melanoma metastases in seven out of 11 cases examined.