Review Article Nuclear envelope defects in epithelial ovarian cancer

Nuclear morphology is a universal indicator of neoplastic cells, and is often used to diagnose cancer and assess the degree of malignancy. Although an association between a misshapen nucleus and cancer has been well established, the causes and consequences of a defective nuclear envelope in cancer are just starting to be revealed. Focusing on ovarian epithelial cancer, this article reviews the recent progress and discusses the critical roles and postulated mechanisms for nuclear envelope defects in ovarian cancer initiation and progression. Recent findings indicate that nuclear envelope proteins including lamin A/C, emerin, nesprins, and nuclear pore complex (NPC) proteins, are frequently altered in their expression or cellular localization in ovarian cancer. Loss of expres- sion of the nuclear envelope structural proteins accounts for the nuclear morphological deformation of the ovarian cancer cells. Alterations of the nuclear envelope proteins impact regulation of gene expression, modulate signaling pathways, and induce chromosomal numerical instability. The ongoing discoveries have begun to reveal underlying mechanisms linking nuclear envelope defects to nuclear morphological deformation and aneuploidy, two prominent hallmarks of ovarian cancer.