Visualization of Ovarian Cancer Cells with Peptide VEGEGEEGEEY

The binding of peptide VEGEGEEGEEY to the surface of ovarian cancer cells was studied by confocal microscopy. It has been demonstrated that the peptide competes with hyaluronan for the binding to RHAMM (receptor for hyaluronan-mediated motility). It was found that peptide VEGEGEEGEEY specifically bound to RHAMM on ovarian cancer cell surface, and this interaction was blocked by anti-RHAMM antibodies. The peptide did not bind to RHAMM-knockout fibroblasts RHAMM^(–/–) but interacted with transfected fibroblasts RHAMM^(+/+), which further confirms the binding of the peptide to RHAMM. Evaluation of the peptide binding selectivity showed that the peptide reacts with cancer cells and does not bind to the surface of fibroblasts and normal cells. Thus, the specificity of binding of peptide FITC-VEGEGEEGEEY to RHAMM suggests a possibility of its application as a molecular probe for imaging and diagnosis of ovarian cancer at early stages.