Mannose-exposing myeloid leukemia cells detected by the sCAR-PPA fusion protein

Altered glycosylation may be a hallmark of malignant transformation and cancer progression. In the work described, a specific mannose-binding lectin, Pinellia pedatisecta agglutinin (PPA), was genetically fused with the extracellular domain of coxsackie-adenovirus receptor (CAR) to generate the soluble CAR (sCAR)-PPA fusion protein. The adenoviral transduction of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines Kasumi-1 and HL-60 was increased by sCAR-PPA, indicating that a fraction of AML cells exposing mannose residues was detected by PPA. However, sCAR-PPA did not increase the adenoviral infection of KG-1 cells, suggesting the mannose exposure of AML cells may be cell type specific. Furthermore, the infectious efficiency of Ad-EGFP in chronic myeloid leukemia cell line K562 was significantly increased by sCAR-PPA as well. We, herein, report that PPA recognized a fraction of myeloid leukemia cells showing mannose-exposing phenotype. The sCAR-PPA fusion protein combined with the adenoviral vector system may provide a useful tool for investigating myeloid leukemia cells exposing mannose residues and further elucidating the role of these cells in the leukemia development.