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Query: UMLS:C0699790 (colon cancer)
 28,837 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Colonic mucins are high molecular weight glycoproteins produced by goblet cells of colonic epithelium. Some studies have indicated that patients with colonic cancers that produce high amounts of mucin have a poorer prognosis than patients whose tumors produce low amounts of mucin. At present, however, the role of mucin in affecting the behavior of colon cancer cells is not well understood. To further elucidate the relationship between cellular mucin content and the growth characteristics and morphology of tumor cells, we utilized a replica plating technique and immunoscreening method to identify and purify variant clones of the human colon cancer cell line LS174T that produce high and low levels of mucin. This procedure enabled us to isolate two high mucin-containing variants (HM3 and HM7) and one low mucin-containing variant (LM12). These variants exhibited different morphology. Both high mucin variants tended to form cell aggregates and suspended cells with adjoining mucoid threads. The low mucin variant formed spread monolayers on the substratum with the formation of cell processes. Metabolic labeling using [3H]glucosamine demonstrated that high mucin variants synthesized 2-fold more mucin in the cell layer and secreted 3-fold more mucin into the culture medium than the low mucin variant. The colony-forming efficiency in semisolid agar for these variants positively correlated with their mucin content. High mucin variant cells when injected into athymic nude mice formed tumors 2-fold larger than those of the parental cells while the low mucin variant formed tumors only one-half as large as those of the parental cell line. These mucin variants should provide a useful model for understanding the biological behavior of mucinous colon cancer cells in vivo and in vitro.
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PMID:Characterization of quantitative mucin variants from a human colon cancer cell line. 366 76

The effect of the glycosylation inhibitor, tunicamycin, on synthesis and secretion of the membrane-associated glycoprotein carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), was studied in the LS174T human colon cancer cell line. Tunicamycin treatment inhibited total cellular glycoprotein synthesis but did not affect CEA levels of cellular homogenate, membrane or cytosol fractions as determined by enzyme immunoassay. Control cells metabolically labelled with 3H-glucosamine, 3H-leucine or 35S-cysteine exhibited membranous and extracellular (i.e. secreted) CEA with an MW of 200 kDa as judged by SDS-gel electrophoresis following immunoprecipitation. However, in the tunicamycin-treated cells several forms of CEA with lower MWs and representing molecules with decreased glycosylation could be detected in addition to the original CEA molecule of 200 kDa present in control cells. The rates of synthesis, secretion and turnover of the lower-molecular-weight forms of poorly glycosylated CEA that appear after tunicamycin treatment are similar to those of CEA in control cells. These data suggest that the carbohydrate portion of the CEA molecule is not essential in synthesis, incorporation into the membrane, and secretion of CEA by colon cancer cells in vitro.
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PMID:Effect of tunicamycin on synthesis and secretion of carcinoembryonic antigen by human colonic adenocarcinoma cells. 373 60

The content of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and its subcellular distribution were studied in nine human colon carcinoma cell lines. A great variation in CEA content was found among different colon cancer cell lines. Well-differentiated colon cancer cell lines (LS174T and SKCO-1) contained the highest CEA activity which was 35 to 60 times greater than that of less well-differentiated cells (SW620, SW480, and HRT18). More than 80% of the CEA was associated with the cell membrane in all nine cell lines. With increasing cell density, the CEA content per cell was found to increase in SW1116, HCT8, and HCT48 cells, while no change was observed in SW620, HRT18, and HT29 cells. In SW480, LS174T, and SKCO-1 cells, CEA content actually decreased with increasing cell density. Investigation of the synthesis of CEA in cells and its release into the medium over an 8-day period showed that the rate of CEA synthesis at maximum cell density for LS174T and SKCO-1 cells decreased to 15 and 50% of that at low cell density, respectively. In contrast, the rate of CEA release into medium by these two cell lines was higher at maximum than at low cell density. For HCT48 cells, the increased rate of CEA synthesis with increasing cell density markedly elevated cellular CEA levels. These observations were confirmed by studying the rate of incorporation of N-acetyl[3H]-glucosamine into cellular CEA in LS174T and HCT48 cell lines. The rate of incorporation of radioactivity into CEA was greater during the exponential phase of growth than during the stationary phase for LS174T, while the opposite was observed with HCT48 cells. This study indicated that there is a great variation in CEA content among different human colon cancer cell lines and that it is associated predominantly with the membrane fraction. The rate of synthesis and release of CEA also varied among different cell lines. The growth phase had a varied effect on the CEA content, the rate of synthesis, and the release of CEA in these human colon cancer cell lines.
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PMID:Subcellular distribution, synthesis, and release of carcinoembryonic antigen in cultured human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines. 687 45

Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that benzyl-alpha-GalNAc inhibits the glycosylation of mucin in colon cancer cells. In this study, we determined whether benzyl-alpha-GalNAc inhibits mucin glycosylation in KATO III gastric cancer cells. We also examined its effects on expression of mucin antigens, and compared the mucins made by KATO III with those of a colonic cancer cell line, Caco-2. Results of these experiments suggest that benzyl-alpha-GalNAc (2 mM) inhibited [3H]glucosamine labelling of mucins by 82% in KATO III and by 70% in Caco-2. For both cell lines, the mucin secreted in the presence of benzyl-alpha-GalNAc was less acidic. Both cell lines secreted benzyl-oligosaccharides, but those from KATO III (8-9 sugars) were larger than those from Caco-2 (6-7 sugars). In mucins purified from the medium of treated cells, peripheral carbohydrate antigens (sialyl Lex in KATO III and terminal fucose in Caco-2) were decreased (compared with control), while core carbohydrate antigens (T antigen in both cell lines and sialyl Tn in Caco-2) were increased. Western blots of cell homogenates showed differences between KATO III and Caco-2 in MUC 1 apomucin protein antigens, in sialyl Lex and in sialyl Tn antigens. We conclude that benzyl-alpha-GalNAc does inhibit the glycosylation of mucin in KATO III gastric cancer cells as in human colon cancer cells, but that alterations in mucin antigens occur in a cell line-specific manner.
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PMID:Inhibition of mucin synthesis by benzyl-alpha-GalNAc in KATO III gastric cancer and Caco-2 colon cancer cells. 757 79

A positive correlation has been described between mucin synthesis, tumorigenicity, and a poor prognosis in human colorectal cancer. Serum growth factors and hormones have been implicated in the regulation of biological behavior of the neoplasm, including growth and differentiation. Growth and differentiation of cancer cells have been observed to be involved in altered expression of mucin mRNA and synthesis. In the present study, the relationship between serum growth factors and mucin synthesis was studied in LS174T colon cancer cells grown in medium with different serum concentrations, and with 20% serum that was heated to 80 degrees C for 60 min or dialysed against saline. Mucin synthesis was estimated by measuring the amount of [3H]glucosamine-labeled glycoprotein excluded on a Sepharose CL-4B column. When the cells were compared on the basis of the same cell number, the higher the serum concentration of the medium, the more mucin produced. There was no decrease in mucin production after heating or after dialysis, indicating that there is a heat-stable non-dializable serum factor which induces mucin synthesis.
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PMID:Effect of serum in the growth medium on mucin synthesis by colon cancer cell line. 759 82

Mucins, high-M(r) glycoproteins with a large amount of O-glycosidically linked carbohydrate, protect the colonic epithelial surface and are altered in ulcerative colitis and colon cancer. At least two mucin genes, MUC2 and MUC3, are expressed at high levels in the human intestine. As an experimental model for studying the biosynthesis of human intestinal mucins, we used HM3 colon cancer cells. When mature mucins labelled with [3H]glucosamine or [3H]threonine were analysed by gel filtration, it was found that secreted mucins (M(r) > 10(8) were larger than soluble cellular mucins (M(r) approx. 5 x 10(6)). Only secreted mucin was sensitive to reduction. Both MUC2 and MUC3 proteins, identified by labelling with [3H]threonine or [35S]cysteine and immunoprecipitation with antibodies to synthetic mucin peptides, were already of large size (M(r) > 180,000) by the earliest labelling time (5 min). The MUC3 precursor was completely degraded by trypsin, but the MUC2 precursor had a trypsin-resistant fragment of M(r) approx. 240,000 containing threonine and cysteine. The trypsin-resistant MUC2 fragment contained N-linked carbohydrate, as indicated by a decrease in size as a result of peptidyl N-glycosidase digestion or tunicamycin treatment of HM3 cells. These results show that HM3 colon cancer cells produce at least two distinct human intestinal mucins. They also indicate that the mechanisms of biosynthesis of intestinal mucins differ from those of other mucin-like glycoproteins that have been studied.
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PMID:Biosynthesis of two distinct types of mucin in HM3 human colon cancer cells. 811 Jan 87

In the present study, we examined the presence of deacetylases capable of producing free hexosamines, which we have shown earlier to be immunosuppressive against human natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytotoxicity, from N-acetylhexosamines in human tumor cells. When human NK-resistant colon cancer cells (Colo-320DM) were incubated with acetyl-D-[1,6-3H(N)]glucosamine, a significant conversion to [3H]glucosamine occurred. Deacetylation was demonstrated as a change of the substrate radioactivity into free glucosamine trapped by a cation exchange resin, and this was subsequently confirmed by paper chromatography. This deacetylase activity was detected in other NK-resistant tumor cell lines, especially in freshly isolated human renal and breast cancer cells and testicular seminoma cells. However, no deacetylase activity was detected in NK-sensitive target cells such as K562, MOLT-4, or HL-60 cells. The ability to produce free hexosamines from N-acetylated aminosugars may provide a new mechanism for the escape of tumor cells from the attack of immune effector cells such as NK cells.
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PMID:Deacetylase activity of human tumor cells producing immunosuppressive aminosugars: its possible role in resistance to cell-mediated cytotoxicity. 824 10

The main aim of this study was to determine whether changes in mucin production/secretion during the growth phases of a human adenocarcinoma cell line, HT-29, are associated with a different tumorigenic potential. HT-29 cells cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10% FCS were harvested in the exponential and post-confluent phases of growth. Metabolic labeling of the cells was performed using [3H]-glucosamine. Following a 24 hr-incubation period, radioactivity was measured in 1 ml-aliquots of cell cytosol and culture medium. Concurrently, mucin synthesis was assessed by size exclusion chromatography of [3H]-glucosamine-labeled glycoprotein in a Sepharose CL-4B column. Clonigenic assay in soft agar of pre- and post-confluent HT-29 cells was determined by scoring viable colonies according to size and number using phase-contrast microscopy. To assess in vivo tumorigenicity, pre-and post-confluent HT-29 cells (4 x 10(6)) in 0.2 ml DMEM were inoculated into nude mice. Tumor size and volume were recorded for 31 days. H-29 cells grew as multilayers of unpolarized, undifferentiated cells. Colony forming efficiency was similar at all growth stages. A significant increase in mucin synthesis was noted in HT-29 cells harvested in the exponential phase of growth compared to the stationary phase (148.3 +/- 41.9 versus 49.1 +/- 5.0, mean +/- SE, dpm/4 x 10(3) cells, p < 0.05). Mucin secretion was not significantly changed. Tumorigenicity in nude mice was consistently higher when the cells were injected in the exponential phase of growth. On day 31 after cell inoculation the average tumor volume/site was 332.7 mm3 in mice injected with HT-29 cells in log phase compared to 142.7 mm3 (p < 0.01) in animals which received post-confluent cells. Tumor weights were 0.36 g and 0.22 g respectively (p < 0.05). The present results indicate a definitive correlation between growth phases of HT-29 cells and mucin synthesis: mucin production was significantly higher in exponentially growing cells. The cloning efficiency in soft agar, a marker of in vitro tumorigenicity, was similar in HT-29 cells irrespective of the growth stage. A main finding of the present study was the increased in vivo tumorigenicity of colon cancer cells inoculated into athymic mice in the log phase of growth compared to cells harvested at post-confluence. These results are consistent with the view that mucin plays an important contributory role in determining tumorigenicity.
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PMID:Human HT-29 colon carcinoma cells: mucin production and tumorigenicity in relation to growth phases. 857 96

Glucose-regulated proteins (GRPs) are induced in cells by a variety of stress conditions such as treatment with 2-deoxyglucose, glucosamine, or the calcium ionophore A23187. We found that resistance to topoisomerase II (topo II) inhibitors, VP-16 and adriamycin, was induced by these treatments in human colon cancer HT-29 cells. Similar VP-16 resistance occurred in human ovarian cancer A2780 and breast cancer MCF-7 cells. The VP-16 resistance was reversible, since the sensitivity of the cells to VP-16 recovered within 24 h after the stresses were removed. Western blotting analysis showed that under these stress conditions the cellular contents of topo II alpha were decreased. The decreased expression of topo II was reversed to control levels within 24 h following removal of the stresses. The decrease in topo II levels under the stress conditions correlated well with the induction of GRP78 and 94. The close correlation between topo II and GRPs suggests that topo II is a protein sensitive to the glucose-regulated stresses. Since hypoxia and nutrient deprivation, which are also GRP-inducing conditions, could occur naturally in the solid tumors, the stress-associated cellular resistance through decrease in topo II levels may be a mechanism of the natural resistance of the solid tumors to topo II-directed chemotherapy.
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PMID:Glucose-regulated stresses confer resistance to VP-16 in human cancer cells through a decreased expression of DNA topoisomerase II. 870 75

Mucins in ulcerative colitis and colon cancer share common properties of reduced sulfation and increased oncofetal carbohydrate antigen expression. It has previously been shown that there is no simple correlation between these changes and the activity of the relevant glycosyl-, sialyl-, and sulfo-transferases. We examined mucin sulfation and expression of oncofetal Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF) antigen (galactosyl beta1-3N-acetylgalactosamine alpha-) in the goblet cell-differentiated human colon cancer cell line LS174T following treatment with bafilomycin A(1, )which raises intra-Golgi pH, or monensin, which disrupts medial-trans Golgi transport. Cells were dual-labeled with sodium [(35)S]-sulfate and D-[6-(3)H(N)]-glucosamine hydrochloride, or labeled with L-[U-(14)C]-threonine alone. Mucin was purified using Sepharose CL-4B gel filtration. Mucin sulfo-Lewis(a) and TF antigen expression were assessed using the F2 anti-sulfo-Lewis(a) monoclonal antibody and peanut agglutinin binding respectively. Bafilomycin (0.01 microM; 48 h) reduced total mucin sulfation, expressed relative to incorporation of glucosamine, to 0.50 +/- 0.04 d.p.m. [(35)S]-sulfate per d.p.m. [(3)H]-glucosamine compared to control, 0.84 +/- 0.05 (p < 0.001, n = 16). This was accompanied by 50.3 +/- 8.0% increased expression of TF antigen (p < 0.01) and 50.1 +/- 5.5% decreased expression of sulfo-Lewis(a) (p < 0.01). The reduced sulfate:glucosamine ratio was largely due to increased incorporation of glucosamine into newly synthesized mucin rather than reduction in total sulfate incorporation. In contrast, monensin only reduced total mucin glycosylation at concentrations > 0.1 microM and had no significant effect on mucin sulfation or TF expression. Intra-Golgi alkalinization affects mucin glycosylation, resulting in decreased mucin sulfation and increased expression of TF antigen, changes that mimic those seen in cancerous and premalignant human colonic epithelium.
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PMID:Increasing the intra-Golgi pH of cultured LS174T goblet-differentiated cells mimics the decreased mucin sulfation and increased Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen (Gal beta1-3GalNac alpha-) expression seen in colon cancer. 1142 99


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