N-glycan biosynthesis inhibitors induce in vitro anticancer activity in colorectal cancer cells.

During malignant transformation, changes in the expression profile of glycans may be involved in a variety of events, including the loss of cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion, migration, invasion, and evasion of apoptosis. Therefore, modulation of glycan expression with drugs has promising therapeutic potential for various cancer types. In this study, we investigated the in vitro anticancer activity of the N-glycan biosynthesis inhibitors (swainsonine and tunicamycin) in cells derived from colorectal cancer (CRC).