Abstract: Objective To explore whether creating a human lymphatic endothelial cell microenvironment under culture or co-culture conditions can affect the invasion and migration activity and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in the ovarian carcinoma SKOV3-PM4 cell line，which shows highly lymphatic directional metastasis. Methods SKOV3-PM4 cells were cultured in a lymphatic endothelial cell microenvironment either by using conditioned medium from cultures of human lens epithelium cells（HLECs） or by co-culturing with HLECs.The ability of SKOV3-PM4 cells to invade and migrate was observed using transwell chambers.Expression of transforming growth factor（TGF-β₁），E-cadherin and vimentin in SKOV3-PM4 cells was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Results The proportion of SKOV3-PM4 cultures showing invasion after incubation in HLEC-conditioned medium was（53±11）%，compared to （30±5）% for control cells；the proportion of SKOV3-PM4 cultures showing migration behavior was（48±5）%，compared to（34±2）% for control cells.Expression of TGF-β₁ and vimentin was up-regulated and expression of E-cadherin down-regulated in SKOV3-PM4 cells after culturing them in HLEC-conditioned medium or co-culturing them with HLECs. Conclusions A human lymphatic endothelial cell microenvironment can alter the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in ovarian carcinoma cells and enhance their invasion and migration ability.

Key words: Ovarian neoplasms, Ovarian carcinoma line with highly lymphatic directional metastasis, Human lymphatic endothelial cells, Epithelial-mesenchymal transition, Microenvironment