Overexpression of sialyl Lewis carrying mucin-type glycoprotein in prostate cancer cell line contributes to aggressiveness and metastasis.

Metastasis-promoting Lewis and sialyl Lewis antigens expressed on glycoproteins such as mucins are frequently displayed on the surface of prostate cancer cells and could thus be ideal candidates as measures of prostate cancer aggressiveness. The current study describes the altered expression of sialyl Lewis (sLe) antigen attached to glycoproteins and key glycosyltransferases between normal prostate (RWPE-1) and cancerous cell lines (LNCaP and DU145). Our results suggest that the expression of sLe on different glycoproteins correlates with the aggressiveness of prostate cancer cells, as determined by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy.

Lectin-glycan interactions: a comprehensive cataloguing of cancer-associated glycans for biorecognition and bio-alteration: a review.

This comprehensive review meticulously compiles data on an array of lectins and their interactions with different cancer types through specific glycans. Crucially, it establishes the link between aberrant glycosylation and cancer types. This repository of lectin-defined glycan signatures, assumes paramount importance in the realm of cancer and its dynamic nature.

Cancer snap-shots: Biochemistry and glycopathology of O-glycans: A review.

Cancer pathogenesis is strongly linked to the qualitative and quantitative alteration of the cell surface glycans, that are glycosidically linked to proteins and lipids. Glycans that are covalently linked to the polypeptide backbone of a protein through nitrogen or oxygen, are known as N-glycans or O-glycans, respectively. Although the role of glycans in the expression, physiology, and communication of cells is well documented, the function of these glycans in tumor biology is not fully elucidated.