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[Cancer-associated alterations of glycoconjugates--special reference to glycosphingolipids]
1Department of Biochemistry, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
Abstract:
Glycoconjugates show the dramatic alterations of the carbohydrate structures in association with oncogenic transformation of the cells. Since glycoconjugates on the cell surfaces are involved in the cellular recognition and response, the structural changes of the carbohydrate in the cancer cells seemed to be closely related to the cell-cell adhesion, cell growth, cell behavior and metastatic property. One of the characteristic changes of glycosphingolipids in association with the oncogenic transformation is oncofetal change, and the other is the molecular mimicry of the glycosphingolipids to those in the cells of immune system. These phenomena indicate how the cancer cells smartly escape the immune surveillance system of the host. In this chapter, cancer-associated changes of glycosphingolipids together with glycolipid synthetase are summarized, and also our recent work on glycosphingolipids in metastatic tumor cells is introduced.
Insights
Cancer cells alter cell surface glycosphingolipids, impacting cell behavior and immune evasion. These changes, including oncofetal expression and molecular mimicry, are key to cancer progression and metastasis.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Cancer Biology
- Immunology
Context:
- Cell surface glycoconjugates undergo significant alterations during oncogenic transformation.
- These structural changes in cancer cells influence cell-cell adhesion, growth, behavior, and metastatic potential.
Purpose:
- To summarize cancer-associated changes in glycosphingolipids and their synthesizing enzymes.
- To introduce recent research on glycosphingolipids in metastatic tumor cells.
Summary:
- Oncogenic transformation leads to characteristic alterations in glycosphingolipids, such as oncofetal antigen expression and molecular mimicry.
- These glycosphingolipid changes enable cancer cells to evade the host's immune surveillance system.
- The study reviews these cancer-associated glycosphingolipid modifications and presents new findings on their role in metastasis.
Impact:
- Understanding these glycosphingolipid alterations provides insights into cancer progression mechanisms.
- This knowledge can inform the development of novel cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.
- Identifying key glycosphingolipids in metastasis may lead to targeted anti-metastatic strategies.