Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 12, 2026

09:14
Static Adhesion Assay for the Study of Integrin Activation in T Lymphocytes
Published on: June 13, 2014
Stable expression of sialyl-Tn antigen in T47-D cells induces a decrease of cell adhesion and an increase of cell
Sylvain Julien1, Chann Lagadec, Marie-Ange Krzewinski-Recchi
1Unité de Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle, UMR CNRS no. 8576, GDR CNRS no. 2590, France.
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment
|March 17, 2005
Summary
Sialyl-Tn antigen expression, induced by ST6GalNAc I, alters breast cancer cell behavior. This modification decreases cell growth and adhesion while increasing migration, offering insights into cancer development.
Area of Science:
- Glycobiology
- Cancer Biology
- Molecular Oncology
Background:
- Sialyl-Tn antigen is overexpressed in epithelial cancers, correlating with poor prognosis.
- Its synthesis is catalyzed by CMP-Neu5Ac:GalNAc alpha2,6-sialyltransferase (ST6GalNAc I), leading to shortened O-glycan chains.
- Typical breast cancer cell lines lack ST6GalNAc I and sialyl-Tn expression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To generate and characterize T47-D breast cancer cell clones expressing the sialyl-Tn antigen.
- To investigate the impact of sialyl-Tn expression on cancer cell biological features.
- To explore the role of altered O-glycosylation in breast cancer progression.
Main Methods:
- Stable transfection of T47-D cells with human ST6GalNAc I cDNA.
- Analysis of sialyl-Tn antigen expression on cell surface glycoproteins, including MUC1.
- Assessment of cell growth, adhesion, and migration in transfected vs. mock-transfected clones.
Main Results:
- Generated T47-D clones stably expressing sialyl-Tn antigen.
- Sialyl-Tn expression was observed on high molecular weight O-glycoproteins like MUC1.
- Sialyl-Tn positive clones exhibited decreased cell growth and adhesion, alongside increased cell migration.
Conclusions:
- Altering the O-glycan pattern is sufficient to modify cancer cell biological features.
- Sialyl-Tn expression significantly impacts breast cancer cell behavior.
- These T47-D clones provide a model for further in vivo studies on O-glycosylation in breast cancer.
Related Concept Videos
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Integrins act both as extracellular input receivers and as intracellular processing activators. As their name suggests, integrins are entirely integrated into the membrane structure. Their hydrophobic membrane-spanning regions interact with the phospholipid bilayer's hydrophobic region. These membrane receptors provide extracellular attachment sites for effectors like hormones and growth factors. They activate intracellular response cascades when their effectors are bound and active.
Some...
Some...
Cadherins in Tissue Organization
The cadherins are a superfamily of cell adhesion molecules comprising over 180 variants, with specific tissues expressing a particular combination of cadherin types. Cadherins generally exhibit homophilic binding; i.e., cadherins on one cell bind to cadherins of the same or closely related type on another cell. Thus, cells of the same type have a specific affinity to bind to each other and sort themselves into clusters to form tissues.
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
Selectins
Cell adhesion is an essential aspect of multicellularity. While stable cell interactions usually occur between cells of the same type, transient cell interactions occur between cells of different tissue types, such as between neutrophils and endothelial cells. Selectins are one class of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) that bind carbohydrate ligands to form transient cell adhesion. They are rod-like proteins with a long extracellular part of variable length ending with the lectin domain, which...

