Background: Glycosylation is increasingly recognized as one of the most relevant postranslational modifications. Sialic acids are negatively charged sugars which frequently terminate the carbohydrate chains of glycoproteins and glycolipids. The addition of sialic acids is mediated by sialyltransferases, a family of glycosyltransferases with a crucial role in cancer progression.
Scope Of The Review: To describe the phenotypic and clinical implications of altered expression of sialyltransferases and of their cognate sialylated structures in cancer. To propose a unifying model of the role of sialyltransferases and sialylated structures on cancer progression.
Major Conclusions: We first discuss the biosynthesis and the role played by the major cancer-associated sialylated structures, including Thomsen-Friedenreich-associated antigens, sialyl Lewis antigens, α2,6-sialylated lactosamine, polysialic acid and gangliosides. Then, we show that altered sialyltransferase expression in cancer, consequence of genetic and epigenetic alterations, generates a flow of information toward the membrane through the biosynthesis of aberrantly sialylated molecules (inside-out signaling). In turn, the presence of aberrantly sialylated structures on cell membrane receptors generates a flow of information toward the nucleus, which can exacerbate the neoplastic phenotype (outside-in signaling). We provide examples of self-fueling loops generated by these flows of information.
General Significance: Sialyltransferases have a wide impact on the biology of cancer and can be the target of innovative therapies. Our unified view provides a conceptual framework to understand the impact of altered glycosylation in cancer.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbagen.2014.06.006 | DOI Listing |
Chemistry
January 2025
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Department of Biological Sciences, INDIA.
Voltage-gated ion channels (VGICs) are allosterically modulated by glycosaminoglycan proteoglycans and sialic acid glycans. However, the structural diversity and heterogeneity of these biomolecules pose significant challenges to precisely delineate their underlying structure-activity relationships. Herein, we demonstrate how heparan sulfate (HS) and sialic acid synthetic glycans appended on amphiphilic glycopeptide backbone influence cell membrane persistence and modulate the gating of the Kv2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Food Sci
January 2025
College of Food Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, China.
Infant formulas are constantly being updated and upgraded, and N-glycans are functional glycans that have not been fully exploited to date. Commercial whey protein materials are often used as basic ingredients in infant formulas. Therefore, it is important to study N-glycans in commercial whey protein materials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnalyst
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Natural Medicines, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, P. R. China.
Although the glycosylation of viral proteins plays a critical role in the process of viral invasion into host cells, studies on the glycosylation of monkeypox virus (MPXV) structural proteins have not yet been reported. To investigate the importance of MPXV protein glycosylation, poly Ser-Arg (poly SR) materials capable of simultaneously enriching both -glycopeptides and -glycopeptides were synthesized by surface-initiated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (SI-RAFT) polymerization. The poly SR materials were evaluated using the digest mixture of standard proteins containing bovine fetuin and bovine serum albumin, and the digest of complex biological samples including bovine sperm tail lysate, mouse sperm tail lysate, mouse brain lysate, and human serum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCrit Rev Oncog
January 2025
Plant Pathology and Microbiology Laboratory, Regional Plant Resource Centre, Bhubaneswar, India.
Bacteria, fungi, and algae are examples of microorganisms that synthesize polysaccharides, which are macromolecules that belong to the carbohydrate class. Production of polysaccharides represents an alternative to chemical and plant-derived compounds that could be used for human well-being which requires implementation of different methods standardized during the extraction and purification process. In the current investigation, Pseudolagarobasidium acaciicola, a novel fungal source of exopolysaccharide (EPS) was used which produced 2773.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chem Inf Model
January 2025
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, United States.
The separation and structural identification of glycans are of great bioanalytical importance. To obtain a good understanding of the structural flexibility of glycans, replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations were used based on AMBER force field calculations to create ensembles of glycan structures. Nonpolar surface area (NPSA) calculations based on continuum solvation (CS) models (Dhakal, R.
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