Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:Q86TM3 (cage)
 29,987 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Many cancer-associated antigens are present on mucin glycoproteins. These include peripheral antigens such as sialyl Lea and sialyl Lex and core region carbohydrate antigens such as T, Tn, and Sialyl Tn. We have recently described an inhibitor of mucin glycosylation, benzyl-alpha-GalNAc. The purpose of this study was to determine its effect on expression of mucin carbohydrate antigens. HM7 colon cancer cells were treated for 2 days in culture with 2 mM benzyl-alpha-GalNAc. This treatment did not affect viability or doubling time, but inhibited synthesis of [3H]glucosamine-labeled mucins. There was also secretion of benzyl-oligosaccharides and a decrease in the proportion of long oligosaccharides on 3H-labeled mucins. Mucins were purified from spent media by gel filtration and assayed for binding of monoclonal antibodies and lectins. Mucins from benzyl-alpha-GalNAc-treated cells had increased binding of peanut agglutinin (specific for T antigen, Gal beta 3GalNAc) and Vicia villosa agglutinin B4 (specific for Tn antigen, GalNAc alpha-Thr/Ser), but decreased binding of monoclonal antibodies 19-9, SNH3, and 91.9H (specific for sialyl Lea, sialyl Lex, and sulfomucin, respectively). Treatment of the cells with benzyl-alpha-GalNAc also decreased their binding to E-selectin (ELAM-1), which recognizes sialyl Lea and sialyl Lex. Thus, benzyl-alpha-GalNAc treatment, which decreases the level of peripheral carbohydrate carbohydrate antigens on mucins with accumulation of core region antigens, may be useful in modifying the immunological and biological properties of colon cancer cells.
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PMID:Effect of benzyl-alpha-GalNAc, an inhibitor of mucin glycosylation, on cancer-associated antigens in human colon cancer cells. 128 81

An important outcome of the monoclonal antibody approach for cancer-associated antigens is that cell-surface carbohydrates have been shown to be very important cancer-associated antigens. These antigens are currently classified into several groups. The first group has the sugar determinant carried by so-called type 1 chain carbohydrates, with a backbone structure composed of the Gal beta 1-->3GlcNAc beta repeating unit. The antigens in this group are utilized mainly for the diagnosis of cancers in the pancreas, biliary tract and other digestive organs. This group includes the well-known serum tumor marker, the 2 -->3 sialyl Le(a) antigen, which is detected by N19-9 and other antibodies. This group also includes DU-PAN-2, which was recently confirmed to be the sialyl Lec. The second group has the polysaccharide determinant carried by so-called type 2 chain carbohydrates, the characteristic feature of which is a backbone structure composed of the Gal beta1 -->4GlcNAc beta repeating unit. This group includes the tumor markers, sialyl SSEA-1, CSLEX-1 or sialyl Lewis X, and is used for the diagnosis of cancers originating in the lung, ovary and digestive organs. The third group has the antigenic determinant carried by the innermost core structures in O-linked carbohydrate side chains. The example of this group is the sialyl Tn antigen, which is detected in ovarian cancers. This group also includes the recently described carbohydrate determinant called Fl alpha antigen, which is frequently expressed in gastric cancer cells. Some of the antigens in the first and second groups such as sialyl Le(a) and sialyl Le(x), serve as ligands for E-selectin, a cell adhesion molecule expressed on activated human endothelial cells, and play significant roles in hematogenous metastasis of cancer.
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PMID:[Biological function of cancer-associated carbohydrate antigens]. 869 8

We have previously reported that HT29 human colon cancer cells selected by adaptation to 5-fluorouracil (5FU) (HT29-5FU cells) express increased levels of a major intestinal mucin MUC2 mRNA compared with parental HT29 cells. In this study, we examined in detail the changes in synthesis and secretion of mucin that occur in these cells and accompanying changes in the expression of cancer associated mucin related carbohydrate antigens and cell lineage associated biochemical markers. We further investigated their relationship to biological properties of cells. Northern blot analysis revealed a markedly increased level of MUC2 mRNA but no significant change in the mRNA levels of other mucins in HT29-5FU cells compared with parental HT29 cells. Labeling with radiolabeled precursors demonstrated increased synthesis and secretion of mucin glycoproteins by HT29-5FU cells. Immunoblot analysis showed a higher expression of mucin associated carbohydrate antigens such as T, Tn, sialyl Tn, sialyl Lea, sialyl Lex and non-O-acetylated sialic acid concomitant with significant increases in the expression of goblet cell lineage marker, MUC2 apomucin and a panepithelial cell marker, carcinoembryonic antigen. HT29-5FU cells showed significantly higher adhesion to E-selectin and to matrigel and in vitro invasive properties and significantly increased liver colonization capacity in nude mice following splenic vein injection. Nude mouse xenograft tumors produced by HT29-5FU cells showed a greater degree of differentiation, consisting of mucin secreting glands than those produced by parental HT29 cells. These results indicate that predominantly colonic type mucin, MUC2, has been selectively induced in HT29-5FU cells and that altered regulation of mucin genes associated with altered synthesis and secretion of mucin glycoproteins and the degree of differentiation in cancer cells may be responsible for the altered biological properties of these cells.
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PMID:Biological properties and expression of mucins in 5-fluorouracil resistant HT29 human colon cancer cells. 1085 31

A series of human nucleotide sugar transporters of the Golgi apparatus was recently cloned, including the transporters for UDP-galactose (UDP-Gal), UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) and CMP-sialic acid (CMP-SA). We have examined the mRNA expression of these three transporters in human colon cancer tissues by reverse transcription-PCR analysis and compared it with that in nonmalignant colonic mucosa prepared from the same patients. The amount of mRNA for UDP-Gal transporter was significantly increased in colon cancer tissues compared with nonmalignant mucosa tissues (P = 0.035; n = 20). The increase was more prominent in patients with advanced colorectal cancer of Dukes' stages C and D, in which the amount of UDP-Gal transporter mRNA in cancer tissues showed on average about a 3.6-fold increase over the paired nonmalignant mucosa (statistically significant at P = 0.004; n = 14). The mRNA content of the other two transporters showed no significant difference between the paired cancer and normal tissues. When UDP-Gal transporter cDNA was stably transfected to cultured human colon cancer cells, the expression of Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF) antigen and of sialyl Lewis A (NeuAcalpha2-->3Galbeta1-->3[Fucalpha1-->4]GlcNAcbeta1-->R) and sialyl Lewis X (NeuAcalpha2-->3Galbeta1-->4[Fucalpha1-->3]GlcNAcbeta1-->R) determinants was significantly induced on transfectant cells, which resulted in markedly enhanced cell adhesion to vascular E-selectin. These findings suggest that the increase of UDP-Gal transporter mRNA is involved in the enhanced expression of cancer-associated carbohydrate determinants such as TF and sialyl Lewis A/X antigens in colon cancers.
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PMID:Increased expression of UDP-galactose transporter messenger RNA in human colon cancer tissues and its implication in synthesis of Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen and sialyl Lewis A/X determinants. 1138 99

Carbohydrate antigen sialyl Lewis a (CA19-9) is the most frequently applied serum tumor marker for diagnosis of cancers in the digestive organs. Recent progress disclosed the presence of a normal counterpart of the determinant, namely disialyl Lewis a, which is predominantly expressed in non-malignant epithelial cells of the digestive organs, while sialyl Lewis a is preferentially expressed in cancers. The disialyl Lewis a determinant carries one extra sialic residue attached through a 2 --> 6 linkage to the GlcNAc moiety compared to cancer-associated sialyl Lewis a, which carries only one 2 --> 3 linked sialic acid residue (monosialyl Lewis a). Disialyl Lewis a in normal epithelial cells serves as a ligand for immunosuppressive receptors such as sialic acid binding immunoglobulin (Ig)-like lectins (siglec-7) and -9 expressed on resident monocytes/macrophages and maintains immunological homeostasis of mucosal membranes in digestive organs. Epigenetic silencing of a gene for a 2 --> 6 sialyl-transferase in the early stages of carcinogenesis results in an impairment of 2 --> 6 sialylation, leading to incomplete synthesis and accumulation of sialyl Lewis a, which lacks the 2 --> 6 linked sialic acid residue, in cancer cells. Simultaneous determination of serum levels of sialyl- and disialyl Lewis a, and calculation of the monosialyl/disialyl Lewis a ratio provide information useful for excluding a false-positive serum diagnosis, and also for averting the undesired influence of the Lewis blood group of patients on serum antigen levels. During the course of cancer progression in locally advanced cancers, tumor hypoxia induces transcription of several glycogenes involved in sialyl Lewis a synthesis. Expression of the determinant, consequently, is further accelerated in more malignant hypoxia-resistant cancer cell clones, which become predominant clones in advanced stage cancers and frequently develop hematogenous metastasis. Sialyl Lewis a, as well as its positional isomer sialyl Lewis x, serves as a ligand for vascular cell adhesion molecule E-selectin and facilitates hematogenous metastasis through mediating adhesion of circulating cancer cells to vascular endothelium. Patients having both strong sialyl Lewis a expression on cancer cells and enhanced E-selectin expression on vascular beds are at a greater risk of developing distant hematogenous metastasis.
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PMID:Carbohydrate antigen sialyl Lewis a--its pathophysiological significance and induction mechanism in cancer progression. 1776 Feb 70

Cancer-associated changes in cell surface carbohydrates, including incomplete synthesis of normal carbohydrate epitopes, strongly affect malignant and metastatic potential. Here, we report that compensating for the cancer-associated loss of a single glycosyltransferase, beta1,4N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase T2, dramatically decreased cell surface expression of both E-selectin ligands (sialyl Lewis(x) and sialyl Lewis(a)). This modification was associated with elevated expression of the Sd(a) carbohydrate determinant, which is expressed in normal gastrointestinal mucosa and is strikingly downregulated in cancer tissues. Loss of E-selectin ligands resulted in decreased adhesion of cancer cells to activated human endothelial cells in vitro and eventually suppressed metastatic potential in vivo.
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PMID:Incomplete synthesis of the Sda/Cad blood group carbohydrate in gastrointestinal cancer. 1796 27

Adhesion of circulating tumor cells to the blood vessel endothelium is a critical step in cancer metastasis. We show in this study that galectin-3, the concentration of which is greatly increased in the circulation of cancer patients, increases cancer cell adhesion to macrovascular and microvascular endothelial cells under static and flow conditions, increases transendothelial invasion, and decreases the latency of experimental metastasis in athymic mice. These effects of galectin-3 are shown to be a consequence of its interaction with cancer-associated MUC1, which breaks the "protective shield" of the cell-surface MUC1 by causing MUC1 polarization, leading to exposure of smaller cell-surface adhesion molecules/ligands including CD44 and ligand(s) for E-selectin. Thus, the interaction in the bloodstream of cancer patients between circulating galectin-3 and cancer cells expressing MUC1 bearing the galectin-3 ligand TF (Galbeta1,3GalNAc-) promotes metastasis. This provides insight into the molecular regulation of metastasis and has important implications for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for prevention of metastasis.
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PMID:Circulating galectin-3 promotes metastasis by modifying MUC1 localization on cancer cell surface. 1969 Jan 36