Experimental Pathology and Therapeutics Group, IPO Porto Research Center (CI-IPOP), Portuguese Oncology Institute (IPO Porto), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Feb 7;22(4):1664. doi: 10.3390/ijms22041664.
Esophageal cancer (EC) is a life-threatening disease, demanding the discovery of new biomarkers and molecular targets for precision oncology. Aberrantly glycosylated proteins hold tremendous potential towards this objective. In the current study, a series of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC) and EC-derived circulating tumor cells (CTCs) were screened by immunoassays for the sialyl-Tn (STn) antigen, a glycan rarely expressed in healthy tissues and widely observed in aggressive gastrointestinal cancers. An ESCC cell model was glycoengineered to express STn and characterized in relation to cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. STn was found to be widely present in ESCC (70% of tumors) and in CTCs in 20% of patients, being associated with general recurrence and reduced survival. Furthermore, STn expression in ESCC cells increased invasion in vitro, while reducing cancer cells proliferation. In parallel, an ESCC mass spectrometry-based proteomics dataset, obtained from the PRIDE database, was comprehensively interrogated for abnormally glycosylated proteins. Data integration with the Target Score, an algorithm developed in-house, pinpointed the glucose transporter type 1 (GLUT1) as a biomarker of poor prognosis. GLUT1-STn glycoproteoforms were latter identified in tumor tissues in patients facing worst prognosis. Furthermore, healthy human tissues analysis suggested that STn glycosylation provided cancer specificity to GLUT1. In conclusion, STn is a biomarker of worst prognosis in EC and GLUT1-STn glycoforms may be used to increase its specificity on the stratification and targeting of aggressive ESCC forms.
食管癌(EC)是一种危及生命的疾病,需要发现新的生物标志物和分子靶点,以实现精准肿瘤学。异常糖基化蛋白在这一目标中具有巨大的潜力。在本研究中,通过免疫分析筛选了一系列食管鳞状细胞癌(ESCC)和来源于食管癌的循环肿瘤细胞(CTC),以检测唾液酸化-Tn(STn)抗原,这是一种在健康组织中很少表达但在侵袭性胃肠道癌中广泛观察到的聚糖。构建了一个 ESCC 细胞模型,使其表达 STn,并在体外研究了细胞增殖和侵袭能力。结果发现 STn 在 ESCC(70%的肿瘤)和 20%的患者的 CTC 中广泛存在,与一般复发和降低生存率相关。此外,ESCC 细胞中 STn 的表达增加了体外侵袭能力,同时降低了癌细胞的增殖能力。与此同时,全面分析了 PRIDE 数据库中获得的基于 ESCC 的质谱蛋白质组数据集,以寻找异常糖基化蛋白。通过与我们开发的 Target Score 算法进行数据集成,确定葡萄糖转运蛋白 1(GLUT1)为预后不良的生物标志物。随后在面临最差预后的患者的肿瘤组织中鉴定出 GLUT1-STn 糖蛋白。此外,对健康人体组织的分析表明,STn 糖基化赋予 GLUT1 癌症特异性。总之,STn 是 EC 预后最差的生物标志物,GLUT1-STn 糖型可能用于提高其在侵袭性 ESCC 分型和靶向治疗中的特异性。
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