Detection of cellular signal transduction pathways in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer (OC) has the highest mortality among gynecologic cancers. Up to 75% of OC patients develop recurrent OC due to increasing resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy. Despite many attempts to find predictive gene profiles, the molecular mechanisms of resistance development still remain unknown. Here we report on a project to perform pathway analysis in fresh frozen OC tissues using the novel DIGI-West approach developed by the NMI, Reutlingen, Germany. DIGI-West uses the principles of the Western blot (protein separation by SDS-PAGE; protein immobilization on a solid support; detection by specific antibodies) and combines it with a multiplexed bead array as a readout system. The system thereby generates hundreds of bead-based Western blot equivalents from a few micrograms of protein, providing information on the expression and modification of hundreds of proteins.