Core-fucosylated glycoproteins as biomarkers for diagnosing pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is highly malignant, with a five-year survival rate of only 12 %. Exact diagnosis and intervention are critical for improving patient prognosis. Core fucosylation (CF) of proteins plays a vital role in the progression of various cancers, including PDAC. In this study, we analysed differences in site-specific CF glycopeptides and corresponding glycoproteins between paired tumour tissues (Ts) and normal adjacent tissues (NATs) from patients with PDAC via a specific enrichment and cleavage strategy. We identified 1447 CF glycoproteins with 2654 CF glycopeptides and revealed that CF glycoproteins are involved in various biological processes. A panel of candidate biomarkers was determined via nested cross-validation and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis with bootstrap resampling and further validated in an independent cohort. This work revealed that several CF glycopeptides from Decay-accelerating factor (CD55), Versican (VCAN), Carboxypeptidase Z (CPZ)and Mucin 16 (MUC16) have the potential to distinguish PDAC NATs from Ts, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 1 in the validation cohort. These data demonstrate that CF glycoproteins may associated with PDAC development and progression and have potential as candidate biomarkers for clinical decision-making.