Protease-Activated Receptor F2R Is a Potential Target for New Diagnostic/Prognostic and Treatment Applications for Patients with Ovarian Cancer

Effective treatment of ovarian cancer is limited by late-stage detection and chemotherapy resistance. There is a clinical need for the discovery of novel molecular targets to enable the development of innovative theranostic approaches. We investigated the coagulation factor II receptor/protease-activated receptor 1 (F2R/PAR1) as a potential diagnostic/prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for ovarian cancer treatment. Public RNA sequence and DNA microarray data were used to analyze F2R gene expression in ovarian cancers, with protein expression confirmed in tumor samples by flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Functional assays were conducted to study effects of F2R suppression on tumor progression. Our analysis confirmed elevated F2R mRNA and protein expression in ovarian cancers, notably in patients with metastatic and chemotherapy-resistant disease. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis demonstrated an association between high F2R protein detection and reduced progression-free survival. F2R suppression in ovarian cancer cell lines reduced tumor cell motility, invasion, spheroid formation, and metabolism and enhanced carboplatin sensitivity. F2R is a compelling diagnostic/prognostic and therapeutic target that could be used to treat chemotherapy-resistant and metastatic disease. The evaluation of novel F2R targeting strategies, using antibody-conjugated drugs or F2R ligand-decorated drug carriers, could lead to the development of effective therapeutics for patients with ovarian cancer.