SERPINB3 (also known Squamous cell carcinoma antigen 1, SCCA1) is involved in apoptosis, immune response, cell migration and invasiveness of cells. It has been investigated in various types of squamous cell carcinoma. Therefore we investigated the functional role of SERPINB3 gene in human epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) using laying hens, the most relevant animal model. In 136 laying hens, EOC was found in 10 (7.4%). We compared the expression and localization of SERPINB3 using RT-PCR, quantitative RT-PCR, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, and SERPINB3 activation was detected in chicken and human ovarian cancer cell lines using immunofluorescence microscopy. Thereafter, we examined the prognostic value of SERPINB3 expression in patients with EOC by multivariate linear logistic regression and Cox’ proportional hazard analyses. In present study, SERPINB3 mRNA was induced in cancerous ovaries (p< 0.01), and it was only expressed in the glandular epithelium(GE) of cancerous ovaries of laying hens. SERPINB3 protein was localized predominantly to the nucleus of glandular epithelium in cancerous ovaries of laying hens, and it was abundant in the nucleus of both chicken and human ovarian cancer cell lines. In 109 human patients with EOC, 15 (13.8%), 66 (60.6%) and 28 (25.7%) of those patients showed weak, moderate and strong expression of SERPINB3 protein, respectively. Strong expression of SERPINB3 protein was a prognostic factor for platinum resistance (adjusted OR, 5.94; 95% Confidence Limits, 1.21-29.15). Therefore SERPINB3 may play an important role in ovarian carcinogenesis and be a novel biomarker for predicting platinum resistance and a poor prognosis for survival in patients with EOC. This research was funded by the World Class University (WCU) program (R31-10056), Basic Science Research Program (2010- 0013078) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology and by the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program (No.PJ008142), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

• Whasun Lim(WCU Biomodulation Major, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University, Korea)
• Hee Seung Kim(Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology)
• Jinyoung Kim(WCU Biomodulation Major, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University, Korea)
• Wooyoung Jeong(WCU Biomodulation Major, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University, Korea)
• Jin Young Lee(WCU Biomodulation Major, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University, Korea)
• Chul Hong Lim(WCU Biomodulation Major, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University, Korea)
• Seung Min Bae(WCU Biomodulation Major, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University, Korea)
• Jae Yong Han(WCU Biomodulation Major, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University, Korea)
• Fuller W. Bazer(WCU Biomodulation Major, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University, Korea, Center for Animal Biotechnology and Genomics and Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA)
• Gwonhwa Song(WCU Biomodulation Major, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University, Korea)