Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.4.99.6 (sialyltransferase)
 1,546 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Numerous investigations suggest that cell surface glycoconjugates, and in particular sialic acids, are directly involved in determining the metastatic phenotype. To further evaluate this hypothesis, we have used a variety of techniques to probe the cell surfaces of several metastatic variants of the murine B16 melanoma that were selected for experimental lung-colonizing ability (Fidler, I. (1973) Nature 242, 148-149) or for their ability to spontaneously metastasize from the site of a subcutaneous injection (Stackpole, C. W., Alterman, A. L., and Fornabaio, D. M. (1985) Invasion & Metastasis 5, 125-142). Using a highly sensitive high performance liquid chromatography sialic acid assay in conjunction with Vibrio cholerae sialidase, we find that none of these metastatic variants differ significantly in their overall levels of cell surface sialic acid. Using highly purified, linkage-specific sialyltransferases, in conjunction with specific glycosidases, to probe the cell surface saccharide topography of specific penultimate oligosaccharides, we also find no significant differences between the efficient lung-colonizing variant, B16-F10 and the poorly-colonizing B16-F1 or B16-Flr variants. In contrast, the spontaneously metastatic variants examined contain substantially different levels of specific penultimate sialylation sites. The tumorigenic but nonmetastatic B16-LM3/G3.26 variant contains 4-fold more penultimate Gal beta 1-3GalNAc sialylation sites than the tumorigenic and highly metastatic B16-LM3/G3.12 variant when CMP[3H]NeuAc and the alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-3GalNAc sialyltransferase are used to probe the melanoma cell surfaces. Several prominent glycoconjugates of apparent Mr 43,000, 40,000, and 30,000 are especially evident upon sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the nonmetastatic cells. The nonmetastatic variant also contains 2-fold more Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc sialylation sites than the metastatic variant when the alpha 2-6Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc sialyltransferase is used as a cell surface probe. In this case, glycoconjugates of apparent Mr 74,000, 45,000, and 43,000 are more prominently observed on the cell surfaces of the nonmetastatic variant. These data indicate that the differences in lung-colonizing abilities of B16 melanoma metastatic variants do not correlate with the numbers or sialylation states of specific penultimate oligosaccharide structures on their surfaces. However, the relative levels of specific penultimate saccharide structures do correlate with the ability of the cells to undergo spontaneous metastasis from a subcutaneous tumor.
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PMID:Cell surface sialylation and tumor metastasis. Metastatic potential of B16 melanoma variants correlates with their relative numbers of specific penultimate oligosaccharide structures. 337 1

A murine melanoma variant (B16-F10ir6), resistant to lymphocytic cytolysis, has been shown previously to produce lower numbers of tumor nodules in the lung of C57BL/6J mice following i.v. inoculations. These differences found in tumor implantation and lymphocyte recognition may be due to changes in surface properties of this cell line. Therefore, membrane-bound sialic acid (released by Vibrio cholerae neuraminidase treatment), ectosialyltransferase activity, and total cellular glycosidase levels were measured in this cell line and compared with levels in its parent melanoma tumor cell line, B16-F10, which was selected for its enhanced ability to form tumor nodules. The results of these studies indicate a correlation between the degree of lung implantation and the amount of tumor cell sialic acid accessible to neuraminidase cleavage, tumor cell surface sialyltransferase activity, and several cellular glycosidase activities. These results are consistent with the idea that membrane structural changes in the glycocalyx may account for the ability of a tumor cell to implant and metastasize.
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PMID:A correlation between cell surface sialyltransferase, sialic acid, and glycosidase activities and the implantability of B16 murine melanoma. 723 26