Fig. 1

ACAT1 mRNA and protein levels in biological samples. Samples were collected from non-malignant (i.e., subjects with normal ovaries [Normal] and benign pelvic mass [BPM]) and ovarian cancer (EOC) patients. Box plots show medians (interquartile ranges) and whiskers (the minimum and maximum values). “d” indicates statistically significant difference compared to the EOC cohort. *: p < .05; **: p < .001; ***: p < .0001. (a) ACAT1 mRNA transcript levels assessed in ovarian tissue by qRT-PCR (non-malignant, n = 11; normal n = 7; BPM n = 4 and EOC subjects, n = 14). (b) ACAT1 protein expression levels in tissue assessed via ELISA (non-malignant, n = 19; normal, n = 12; BPM, n = 7 and EOC subjects, n = 14; triplicate experiments). (c) ACAT1 expression shown by DAB staining (brown) in human normal ovary, BMP and advanced stage EOC tumor samples. Representative images were taken with an inverted microscope (Olympus H4–100, CCD camera) and a 20X objective. Insets show images photographed with a 40X objective; n = number of samples. (d) ACAT1 protein expression levels (ELISA; triplicate experiments) in peritoneal fluid (non-malignant, n = 20; normal n = 8; BPM n = 12 and EOC, n = 27). (e) ACAT1 protein expression levels (ELISA, triplicate experiments) in plasma (non-malignant, n = 13; normal, n = 8; BPM n = 5; EOC, n = 16)