• BMB Reports
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• 제44권12호
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• pp.765-771
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• 2011

Cancer treatment has been stratified by companion biomarker tests that serve to provide information on the genetic status of cancer patients and to identify patients who can be expected to respond to a given treatment. This stratification guarantees better efficiency and safety during treatment. Cancer patients, however, marginally benefit from the current companion biomarker-aided treatment regimens, presumably because companion biomarker tests are dependent solely on the mutation status of several genes status quo. In the true sense of the term, "personalized medicine", cancer patients are deemed to be identified individually by their molecular signatures, which are not necessarily confined to genetic mutations. Glycosylation is tremendously dynamic and shows alterations in cancer. Evidence is accumulating that aberrant glycosylation contributes to the development and progression of cancer, holding the promise for use of glycosylation status as a companion biomarker in cancer treatment. There are, however, several challenges derived from the lack of a reliable detection system for aberrant glycosylation, and a limited library of aberrant glycosylation. The challenges should be addressed if glycosylation status is to be used as a companion biomarker in cancer treatment and contribute to the fulfillment of personalized medicine.

• BMB Reports
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• 제45권11호
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• pp.623-628
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• 2012

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMPs; TIMP-1, -2, -3 and -4) are endogenous inhibitor for matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that are responsible for remodeling the extracellular matrix (ECM) and involved in migration, invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. Unlike under normal conditions, the imbalance between MMPs and TIMPs is associated with various diseased states. Among TIMPs, TIMP-1, a 184-residue protein, is the only N-linked glycoprotein with glycosylation sites at N30 and N78. The structural analysis of the catalytic domain of human stromelysin-1 (MMP-3) and human TIMP-1 suggests new possibilities of the role of TIMP-1 glycan moieties as a tuner for the proteolytic activities by MMPs. Because the TIMP-1 glycosylation participate in the interaction, aberrant glycosylation of TIMP-1 presumably affects the interaction, thereby leading to pathogenic dysfunction in cancer cells. TIMP-1 has not only the cell proliferation activities but also anti-oncogenic properties. Cancer cells appear to utilize these bilateral aspects of TIMP-1 for cancer progression; an elevated TIMP-1 level exerts to cancer development via MMP-independent pathway during the early phase of tumor formation, whereas it is the aberrant glycosylation of TIMP-1 that overcome the high anti-proteolytic burden. The aberrant glycosylation of TIMP-1 can thus be used as staging and/or prognostic biomarker in colon cancer.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국생물공학회 2005년도 생물공학의 동향(XVII)
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• pp.142-143
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• 2005

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.1643-1647
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• 2016

Since their discovery in 1940, it has been well established that gangliosides are associated with a number of biological pathways and cellular processes such as growth, differentiation and toxin uptake. Gangliosides are glycosphingolipids containing neuraminic acid which are expressed on the plasma membrane of cells particularly in the nervous system. Heterogeneity and structural variation in the carbohydrate chains of gangliosides contributes to unique features of each of these molecules. Thirty five years ago it was discovered that aberrant glycosylation occurs in a variety of human cancers, including aberrant glycosylation of gangliosides. Ganglioside expression in terms of quality and quantity varies in different cancers and different roles may be played. Gangliosides, by affecting the immune system, including esxpression of cytokines and adhesion molecules, may inhibit anti-tumor mechanisms, as well as having direct impact on angiogenesis, cell movement and metastasis. It should be noted that different kinds of gangliosides do not all act by the same mechanisms.

• BMB Reports
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• 제50권5호
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• pp.233-234
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• 2017

Aberrant expression of the polypeptide N-acetyl-galactosaminyltransferase (GALNTs) has been associated with cancer, but their function(s) in metastasis remains elusive. We have recently identified GALNT14, one of the O-GalNAc glycosylation-initiating enzymes, as a prognostic marker for pulmonary relapse in breast cancer patients. Furthermore, we showed that GALNT14 promotes lung metastasis by the following novel mechanisms: 1) enhancing metastasis initiation by inhibiting the anti-metastatic effect of BMP produced from the lung stroma, 2) exploiting growth signals (e.g. FGF) supplied by macrophages, for their growth into macrometastases in the lung environment. These multi-faceted roles of GALNT14 in lung metastasis are achieved by GALNT14-mediated inhibition and activation of the BMP and FGF signaling pathways, respectively. The link among GALNT14, its downstream pathways and lung metastasis, provides us with an opportunity to develop effective therapeutic intervention for breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.691-695
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• 2016

Protein glycosylation is the most common posttranslational modification in mammalian cells. Aberrant protein glycosylation has been reported in various diseases, including cancer. We identified and quantified the glycan structures of O-linked glycoprotein from cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) cell lines from different histological types and compared their profiles by nanospray ionization-linear ion trap mass spectrometry (NSI-$MS^n$). Five human CCA cell lines, K100, M055, M139, M213 and M214 were characterized. The results showed that the O-linked glycans of the CCA cell lines comprised tri- to hexa-saccharides with terminal galactose and sialic acids: NeuAc1Gal1GalNAc1, Gal2GlcNAc1GalNAc1, NeuAc2Gal1GalNAc1 NeuAc1Gal2GlcNAc1GalNAc1 and NeuAc2Gal2GlcNAc1GalNAc1 All five CCA cell lines showed a similar glycan pattern, but with differences in their quantities. NeuAc1Gal1GalNAc1 proved to be the most abundant structure in poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (K100; 57.1%), moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma (M055; 42.6%) and squamous cell carcinoma (M139; 43.0%), while moderately to poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (M214; 40.1%) and adenosquamous cell carcinoma (M213; 34.7%) appeared dominated by $NeuA_{c2}Gal_1GalNA_{c1}$. These results demonstrate differential expression of the O-linked glycans in the different histological types of CCA. All five CCA cell lines have abundant terminal sialic acid (NeuAc) O-linked glycans, suggesting an important role for sialic acid in cancer cells. Our structural analyses of glycans may provide important information regarding physiology of disease-related glycoproteins in CCA.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• 제41권3호
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• pp.159-167
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• 2014

진핵생물의 유전자 발현 과정에서 생성된 단백질은 전사후 변형 과정을 통해 소포체와 골지체에서 당질화가 일어난다. 당질화된 당단백질은 접힘의 오류가 있는 경우를 비롯하여 식물의 분화 조절 등의 경우 당단백질이 분해되며, 이 때 PNGase에 의해 N-당사슬이 단백질의 아스파라긴산 잔기로부터 절단된다. 그러나 식물의 발달과 분화 과정에서 PNGase의 발현 조절에 대해서는 거의 알려진 바가 없다. 기존에 보고된 유전적 정보를 활용하여 토마토의 잎에서 제조된 cDNA library에서 nested RT-PCR을 통하여 PNGase T의 유전자(GenBank Accession number KM401550)를 분리하였는데 이의 ORF는 1,767 bp, 588개의 이미노산으로 이루어졌으며, 분자량은 65.8 KDa이었다. PNGase T의 유전자는 토마토 과육에서 높은 수준으로 항시적으로 발현되었으며, 특히 녹색과보다는 오렌지색으로 숙성되는 과정에서 PNGase T의 전사체량이 크게 증가하였다. 이러한 발현 패턴은 토마토 과육에서 세포죽음의 과정에서 증가하는 단백질 가수분해 효소인 metacaspase의 전사체 증가 페턴과 유사하였으며, 이 시기에는 에틸렌의 생합성 효소 중 노화관련 ACC synthase의 유전자 members (LeACS2, LeACS4, LeACS6)의 발현 패턴과도 유사하였다. 따라서 토마토 과육에서 PNGase T의 유전자 발현은 거대분자가 분해되는 시기에서 과육의 숙성과 노화 과정에서 특이적인 생리적 기능을 나타내는 것으로 판단된다. 향 후 고가의 의약용 재조합단백질의 면역부작용을 완화하기 위하여 식물체 유래의 당단백질의 탈당질화과정에서 PNGase T를 활용함으로써 식물생명공학 분야에서 활용가치가 높을 것으로 사료된다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권14호
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• pp.5601-5605
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• 2014

Background: Agrocybe aegerita Lectin (AAL) has been identified to have high affinity for sulfated and ${\alpha}2$-3-linked sialic acid glycoconjugates, especially the sulfated and sialyl TF (Thomsen-Friedenreich) disaccharide. This study was conducted to investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic value of AAL in identifying aberrant glycosylation in colorectal cancer (CRC). Materials and Methods: Glycoconjugate expression in 59 CRC tissues were detected using AAL-histochemistry. Clinicopathological associates of expression were analyzed with chisquare test or Fisher's exact test. Relationships between expression and the various clinicopathological parameters was estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression models. Results: AAL specific glycoconjugate expression was significantly higher in tumor than corresponding normal tissues (66.1% and 46.1%, respectively, p=0.037), correlating with depth of invasion (p=0.015) and TNM stage (p=0.024). Patients with lower expression levels had a significantly higher survival rate than those with higher expression (p=0.046 by log rank test and p=0.047 by Breslow test for overall survival; p=0.054 by log rank test and P=0.038 by Breslow test for progress free survival). A marginally significant association was found between AAL specific glycoconjugate expression and overall survival by univariate Cox regression analysis (p=0.059). Conclusions: Lower AAL specific glycoconjugate expression is a significant favorable prognostic factor for overall and progress free survival in CRC. This is the first report about the employment of AAL for histochemical analysis of cancer tissues. The binding characteristics of AAL means it has potential to become a powerful tool for the glycan investigation and clinical application.