Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40059825›Full record

ArticleJCI insight2025

APOBEC3A drives ovarian cancer metastasis by altering epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Jessica M Devenport, Thi Tran, Brooke R Harris, Dylan Fingerman, Rachel A DeWeerd, Lojain H Elkhidir, Danielle LaVigne, Katherine Fuh, Lulu Sun, Jeffrey J Bednarski and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JCI insight, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Jessica M DevenportDepartment of Pediatrics.
Thi TranDepartment of Pediatrics.
Brooke R HarrisDepartment of Pediatrics.
Dylan FingermanDepartment of Pediatrics.
Rachel A DeWeerdDepartment of Pediatrics.
Lojain H ElkhidirDepartment of Pediatrics.
Danielle LaVigneDepartment of Pediatrics.
Katherine FuhDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, UCSF, San Francisco, California, USA.
Lulu SunDivision of Anatomic and Molecular Pathology, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Jeffrey J BednarskiDepartment of Pediatrics.
Ronny DrapkinPenn Ovarian Cancer Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and.
Mary M MullenDivision of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Siteman Cancer Center, and.
Abby M GreenDepartment of Pediatrics.

Funding

Washington University Center for Cellular ImagingP30CA091842 · NCI · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI TIMOTHY J. EBERLEIN · 2001 to 2026
$128.0M
SPORE in Ovarian CancerP50CA228991 · NCI · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Amanda Nickles Fader · 2018 to 2026
$20.5M
Dignity Therapy RCT led by Nurses or Chaplains for Elderly Cancer OutpatientsR01CA200867 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · PI EMANUEL, LINDA LEAH, FITCHETT, GEORGE · 2016 to 2020
$3.2M
RAG-mediated DNA Damage Responses in Immune Development and FunctionR01AI173077 · NIAID · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI BEDNARSKI, JEFFREY J · 2022 to 2025
$2.6M
Molecular Interactions of APOBEC3 Enzymes with the Cancer GenomeK08CA212299 · NCI · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI GREEN, ABBY MARGARET · 2016 to 2020
$744k
MYSM1-dependent DNA damage responses in early B cell developmentR21AI166259 · NIAID · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI BEDNARSKI, JEFFREY J · 2022 to 2023
$430k
NCI NIH HHS K08 CA212299NCI NIH HHS P30 CA091842NCI NIH HHS P50 CA228991NCI NIH HHS R01 CA200867NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI173077NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI166259
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the most prevalent and aggressive histological subtype of ovarian cancer and often presents with metastatic disease. The drivers of metastasis in HGSOC remain enigmatic. APOBEC3A (A3A), an enzyme that generates mutations across various cancers, has been proposed as a mediator of tumor heterogeneity and disease progression. However, the role of A3A in HGSOC has not been explored. We observed an association between high levels of APOBEC3-mediated mutagenesis and poor overall survival in primary HGSOC. We experimentally addressed this correlation by modeling A3A expression in HGSOC, and this resulted in increased metastatic behavior of HGSOC cells in culture and distant metastatic spread in vivo, which was dependent on catalytic activity of A3A. A3A activity in both primary and cultured HGSOC cells yielded consistent alterations in expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) genes resulting in hybrid EMT and mesenchymal signatures, providing a mechanism for their increased metastatic potential. Inhibition of key EMT factors TWIST1 and IL-6 resulted in mitigation of A3A-dependent metastatic phenotypes. Our findings define the prevalence of A3A mutagenesis in HGSOC and implicate A3A as a driver of HGSOC metastasis via EMT, underscoring its clinical relevance as a potential prognostic biomarker. Our study lays the groundwork for the development of targeted therapies aimed at mitigating the deleterious effect of A3A-driven EMT in HGSOC.

Indexed as

Cystadenocarcinoma, SerousCytidine DeaminaseEpithelial-Mesenchymal TransitionOvarian NeoplasmsAnimalsCell Line, TumorFemaleGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansInterleukin-6MiceNeoplasm MetastasisNuclear ProteinsProteinsTwist-Related Protein 1APOBEC3A protein, humanCytidine DeaminaseInterleukin-6Nuclear ProteinsProteinsTWIST1 protein, humanTwist-Related Protein 1CancerCell biologyCell migration/adhesionDNA repairOncology

Identifiers

PMID40059825
PMCPMC11949045

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.