Inhibition of N-linked glycosylation by tunicamycin induces E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion and inhibits cell proliferation in undifferentiated human colon cancer cells.

Purpose: Aberrant protein glycosylation and disassembly of E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion are characteristics of epithelial cancer. However, the relationship between these two events in colorectal cancer remains to be defined. In this study, we analyzed whether N-glycan expression is crucial for the loss of E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion in human colorectal cancer cells.