Abstract
SLC44A4 is involved in the transmembrane transport of choline and other organic cations, influencing phospholipid metabolism in cell membranes and potentially participating in immune regulation. Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC), often diagnosed at advanced stages, exhibits poor responsiveness to conventional surgery and chemotherapy. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify new biomarkers that can provide insights into the mechanisms underlying its onset and progression.To investigate the impact of SLC44A4 overexpression on the biological behavior of OCCC cells and to explore the underlying mechanisms.The effects of SLC44A4 on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OCCC cells were assessed using CCK-8, colony formation, scratch, and Transwell assays. The impact of SLC44A4 on the extracellular matrix and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway was evaluated by Western blotting.SLC44A4 inhibited the proliferation and migration of OCCC cells in vitro, altered the extracellular matrix, and may inhibit the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.SLC44A4 overexpression can alter the tumor microenvironment and inhibit the malignant progression of ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) by remodeling its extracellular matrix. These findings suggest that SLC44A4 may serve as a potential biomarker for evaluating the prognosis of OCCC.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Data will be made available upon reasonable request.
References
Altalbawy FMA et al (2025) Interactions in hepatic tumor microenvironment: potential targets and modulations for effective therapy. Pathol Res Pract 272:156074
Belotti Y, Lim EH, Lim CT (2022) The role of the extracellular matrix and tumor-infiltrating immune cells in the prognostication of high-grade serous ovarian cancer. Cancers (Basel). https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14020404
Chien W et al (2023) Treatment for ovarian clear cell carcinoma with combined inhibition of WEE1 and ATR. J Ovarian Res 16:80
Chu M et al (2025) A circadian rhythm-related signature to predict prognosis, immune infiltration, and drug response in breast cancer. Curr Med Chem 32:608–626
Geng T, Zheng M, Wang Y, Reseland JE, Samara A (2023) An artificial intelligence prediction model based on extracellular matrix proteins for the prognostic prediction and immunotherapeutic evaluation of ovarian serous adenocarcinoma. Front Mol Biosci 10:1200354
Guo J et al (2023) Wogonin restrains the malignant progression of lung cancer through modulating MMP1 and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Protein & Peptide Letters 30:25–34
Gupta A et al (2016) A cross-ethnic survey of CFB and SLC44A4, Indian ulcerative colitis GWAS hits, underscores their potential role in disease susceptibility. Eur J Hum Genet 25:111–122
Hou Y et al (2025) Exploration of key pathogenic mechanisms and potential intervention targets of the traditional Chinese medicine Coptis chinensis in the treatment of cervical cancer based on network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques. Transl Cancer Res 14:626–639
Hu Q, Zhu Y, Mei J, Liu Y, Zhou G (2025) Extracellular matrix dynamics in tumor immunoregulation: from tumor microenvironment to immunotherapy. J Hematol Oncol 18:65
Itamochi H et al (2002) Mechanisms of cisplatin resistance in clear cell carcinoma of the ovary. Oncology 62:349–353
Kajitani GS et al (2025) Altered pathways in Cockayne syndrome: involvement of MAPK, PI3K-Akt, extracellular matrix, inflammation, and neuronal signaling. DNA Repair Amst 152:103861
Kang W et al (2020) The SLC family are candidate diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Biomed Res Int 2020:1932948
Kim SH et al (2025) Suppression of stress granule assembly by pyridoxal hydrochloride attenuates oxidative damage in skin fibroblasts. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 123:130238
Kounatidis D, Vallianou NG, Karampela I, Grivakou E, Dalamaga M (2025) The intricate role of adipokines in cancer-related signaling and the tumor microenvironment: insights for future research. Semin Cancer Biol 113:130–150
Krawiec A, Pietrasik J, Pietrasik Z, Mikula-Pietrasik J, Ksiazek K (2025) Unveiling the role of extracellular matrix elements and regulators in shaping ovarian cancer growth and metastasis. Cell Signal 132:111843
Liu C et al (2022) An intratumor Heterogeneity-Related signature for predicting prognosis, immune landscape, and chemotherapy response in colon adenocarcinoma. Front Med Lausanne 9:925661
Lu J, Zhen S, Li X (2025) Characteristics of oxidative Phosphorylation-Related subtypes and construction of a prognostic signature in ovarian cancer. Curr Gene Ther 25:327–344
Mabuchi S, Sugiyama T, Kimura T (2016) Clear cell carcinoma of the ovary: molecular insights and future therapeutic perspectives. J Gynecol Oncol 27:e31
Mackawy AMH, Alharbi HO, Almatroudi A, Alwanian WM, Allemailem KS (2025) Matrix metalloproteinases 1 and 3 in ovarian cancer: diagnostic and prognostic potential of genetic variants and expression profiling. Diagnostics (Basel). https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15121521
Mattie M et al (2016) The discovery and preclinical development of ASG-5ME, an antibody-drug conjugate targeting SLC44A4-positive epithelial tumors including pancreatic and prostate cancer. Mol Cancer Ther 15:2679–2687
McHugh D et al (2019) A phase I study of the antibody drug conjugate ASG-5ME, an SLC44A4-targeting antibody carrying auristatin E, in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Invest New Drugs 37:1052–1060
Mi T et al (2024) Doxycycline hydrochloride inhibits the progress of malignant rhabdoid tumor of kidney by targeting MMP17 and MMP1 through PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Eur J Pharmacol 964:176291
Nabokina SM, Ramos MB, Said HM (2016) Mechanism(S) involved in the colon-specific expression of the thiamine pyrophosphate (Tpp) transporter. PLoS One 11:e0149255
Nagaram S et al (2025) Role of Exosomal miRNAs and Epigenetic Modifications in Diabetic Nephropathy: Insights into Novel Diagnostic and Therapeutic Strategies. Curr Gene Ther
Sabui S et al (2024) Effect of knocking out mouse Slc44a4 on colonic uptake of the microbiota-generated thiamine pyrophosphate and colon physiology. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 327:G36–G46
Song Y et al (2022) MiR-4739/ITGA10/PI3K signaling regulates differentiation and apoptosis of osteoblast. Regen Ther 21:342–350
Stewart J, Cunningham N, Banerjee S (2023) New therapies for clear cell ovarian carcinoma. Int J Gynecol Cancer 33:385–393
Sung H et al (2021) Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin 71:209–249
Torre-Cea I et al (2025) Basement membranes in lung metastasis growth and progression. Matrix Biol 135:135–152
Wang Y et al (2025) The scrna-sequencing landscape of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma revealed distinct cell populations associated with tumor initiation and progression. Genes Dis 12:101323
Wu J et al (2017) Evaluating the association of common variants of the SLC44A4 gene with ulcerative colitis susceptibility in the Han Chinese population. Genet Test Mol Biomarkers 21:555–559
Yang X et al (2023) Prognostic risk factors of serous ovarian carcinoma based on mesenchymal stem cell phenotype and guidance for therapeutic efficacy. J Transl Med 21:456
Yao Q et al (2024) A promising natural killer cell-based model and a nomogram for the prognostic prediction of clear-cell renal cell carcinoma. Eur J Med Res 29:73
Yuan SF et al (2025) Oncogenic role of fumarate hydratase in breast cancer: metabolic reprogramming and mechanistic insights. Cancer Metab 13:26
Zhang Y et al (2024) MMP11 and MMP17 are potential biomarkers for uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma prognosis. Clin Transl Oncol 26:653–663
Funding
This work was supported by grants from the Qingdao Natural Science Foundation (Project No. 23-2-192-zyyd-jch), the Research project of Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, the Heathcod-Merck Cancer Research Fund (Application No. Y-MSDZD2022-0442) and the public hospital for the financial support of high-quality scientific research projects.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
K.J.S, Q.Y and T.L designed and conceived the study. W.Y.S and T.L performed experiments and analyzed data. H.F.C. provided advice and technical assistance. S.L.L drafted the manuscript. X.J.W. completed and revised the manuscript. All authors have contributed to and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Li, T., Song, W., Liu, S. et al. SLC44A4 modulates the extracellular matrix through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, thereby affecting the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC). Cytotechnology 78, 17 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-025-00881-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Version of record:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-025-00881-w