Identification of stemness-related glycosylation changes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

: Routila, Erica; Mahran, Randa; Salminen, Seppo; Irjala, Heikki; Haapio, Eeva; Kytö, Eero; Ventelä, Sami; Petterson, Kim; Routila, Johannes; Gidwani, Kamlesh; Leivo, Janne

Publisher: BioMed Central

: 2024

BMC Cancer

: BMC cancer

: BMC Cancer

: 443

: 24

: 1471-2407

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-12161-5

: https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-024-12161-5

: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/387645817

Background: Altered glycosylation is a hallmark of cancer associated with therapy resistance and tumor behavior. In this study, we investigated the glycosylation profile of stemness-related proteins OCT4, CIP2A, MET, and LIMA1 in HNSCC tumors.

Methods: Tumor, adjacent normal tissue, and blood samples of 25 patients were collected together with clinical details. After tissue processing, lectin-based glycovariant screens were performed.

Results: Strong correlation between glycosylation profiles of all four stemness-related proteins was observed in tumor tissue, whereas glycosylation in tumor tissue, adjacent normal tissue, and serum was differential.

Conclusions: A mannose- and galactose-rich glycosylation niche associated with stemness-related proteins was identified.

s12885-024-12161-5.pdf