GlycoAvatars : bead-coated membrane models for studying the cancer-immune cells interactome;
: Miranda, Andreia; Relvas-Santos, Marta; Lourenço, Camila; Ferreira, Eduardo; Cunha, Diogo M.; Palmeira, Carlos; Santos, Lúcio Lara; Mattila, Pieta K.; Ferreira, José Alexandre
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
: 2026
Communications Biology
: 1033
: 9
: 2399-3642
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-10274-0
: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-10274-0
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/527051777
Immature protein O-glycosylation, characterized by the Tn antigen expression rather than complex glycans, is prevalent in advanced solid tumors and promotes immune evasion. We developed GlycoAvatars, magnetic beads coated with plasma-membrane glycoproteins from glycoengineered cancer cells reflecting these alterations, to identify cancer-immune cell interactomes. We uncovered numerous membrane and intracellular proteins involved in glycan-mediated immune signaling, providing a novel high-throughput strategy for identifying potential relevant molecular nodes foreseeing therapeutic targets.
:
We thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2022.12980.BD, SFRH/BD/146500/2019, 2022.08311.CEECIND; PTDC/ MED-OUT/2512/2021), the Research Council of Finland (grants 337530, 357910, 339810), and Finnish Cultural Foundations.