Mortality in ovarian cancer is predominantly due to acquired chemoresistance and tumor recurrence. UBIQUITIN CONJUGATING ENZYME E2 or RAD6 expression increases in cell lines and patient tumors in response to platinum-based chemotherapy and promotes both activation of DNA damage response pathways and expression of stemness genes and a stem cell-like phenotype driving ovarian cancer chemoresistance.
Keywords: DNA repair; RAD6; cancer stem cells; chemoresistance; ovarian cancer.