Taki T
Department of Biochemistry, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
Nihon Geka Gakkai Zasshi. 1996 Feb;97(2):123-30.
Glycoconjugates show the dramatic alterations of the carbohydrate structures in association with oncogenic transformation of the cells. Since glycoconjugates on the cell surfaces are involved in the cellular recognition and response, the structural changes of the carbohydrate in the cancer cells seemed to be closely related to the cell-cell adhesion, cell growth, cell behavior and metastatic property. One of the characteristic changes of glycosphingolipids in association with the oncogenic transformation is oncofetal change, and the other is the molecular mimicry of the glycosphingolipids to those in the cells of immune system. These phenomena indicate how the cancer cells smartly escape the immune surveillance system of the host. In this chapter, cancer-associated changes of glycosphingolipids together with glycolipid synthetase are summarized, and also our recent work on glycosphingolipids in metastatic tumor cells is introduced.
糖缀合物显示出与细胞致癌转化相关的碳水化合物结构的显著改变。由于细胞表面的糖缀合物参与细胞识别和反应，癌细胞中碳水化合物的结构变化似乎与细胞间粘附、细胞生长、细胞行为和转移特性密切相关。与致癌转化相关的糖鞘脂的特征性变化之一是癌胚变化，另一个是糖鞘脂与免疫系统细胞中的糖鞘脂的分子模拟。这些现象表明癌细胞如何巧妙地逃避宿主的免疫监视系统。在本章中，总结了糖鞘脂与糖脂合成酶的癌症相关变化，并介绍了我们最近在转移性肿瘤细胞中关于糖鞘脂的研究工作。
