Discovery of CAR-T cells targeting antigens for ovarian cancer through a bioinformatics analysis

Target antigens are crucial for developing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, but their application to ovarian cancer (OC) is limited. This study aimed to identify potential genes as CAR-T- cell antigen candidates for OC. A differential gene expression analysis was performed on OC samples from four datasets (GSE) obtained from the GEO database. Functional annotation, pathway analysis, protein localization, and gene expression analysis were conducted using various databases and tools. An oncogenicity analysis and network analysis were also performed. In total, 153 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in OC samples, with 60 DEGs expressing plasma membrane proteins suitable for CAR-T-cell antigens. Among them, 21 plasma membrane proteins were predicted to be differentially expressed proteins in OC, with nine proteins playing crucial roles in the network. Key genes identified in the oncogenic pathways of ovarian cancer included MUC1, CXCR4, EPCAM, RACGAP1, UBE2C, PRAME, SORT1, JUP, and CLDN3, suggesting them as recommended antigens for CAR-T-cell therapy for OC. This study sheds light on potential targets for immunotherapy in OC.