Pancreatic Cancer and Glycosylation

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common type of pancreatic cancer, is a recalcitrant tumor that is the third leading cause of adult cancer death with a 5-y survival rate below 10% despite significant advances in understanding the genetics and biology of the disease. Cancer cells can adapt by rewiring their metabolism via stimulating nutrient uptake pathways and upregulating rate-limiting enzymes involved in anabolic pathways. PDACs are extremely intractable solid tumors that experience a hypoxic and nutrient-deprived microenvironment and often undergo a metabolic switch to support increased glycolytic flux for their growth.

Fig.1 The contributions of glycogen metabolism to cancer progression. (Khan, et al., 2020)

Glycogene Discovery Service in Pancreatic Cancer

CD BioGlyco offers a glycogene discovery service in pancreatic cancer. Meanwhile, we exemplify the summary of glycogenes involved in pancreatic cancer.

• Strategies
  • Glycoprotein Structure Analysis by MALDI-MS
  • Identification and quantification of glycopeptides LC-MS/MS
  • Glycogene Expression Profiling Analysis by qRT-PCR or RNA-Seq
  • Glycan Analysis by MS or lectin-based methods
• Summary of glycogenes involved in pancreatic cancer
  • Uridine diphosphate (UDP)-glucose pyrophosphorylase 2 (UGP2): The enzyme that synthesizes UDP-glucose, which has a central role in the growth and metabolism of PDAC cells through the regulation of glycogen synthesis and protein N-glycosylation, highlighting therapeutic possibilities for this deadly cancer.
  • Kras oncogene: The activating mutations in the Kras oncogene significantly speed up the formation of early neoplastic lesions and adenocarcinoma in the end.
  • O-GlcNAcylation: It promotes pancreatic cancer growth by regulating the metabolic activity of malate dehydrogenase 1 (MDH1).
  • Glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β): GSK-3β is upregulated in the onset and progression of many cancers. The dysregulation of GSK-3β expression and activity promotes tumor suppressor activity in pancreatic cancer.
  • B4GALT5: B4GALT5, a glycosylation gene, can facilitate the malignant progression of pancreatic cancer, thus, it can act as a new biomarker to explore the risk and poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer.
  • Serum CA19-9: The classicical blood test for PDAC.
  • 7-EV protein: 7-EV protein signature serves as a proof-of-concept and has the potential to facilitate the further development of biomarker tests for pancreatic cancer.

Fig.2 Glycogene discovery in pancreatic cancer. (CD BioGlyco)

Applications

• The important roles of UGP2 in cancer maintenance, metabolism, and protein glycosylation may give new opinions into research for another type of PDACs.
• As a source of potential biomarkers, extracellular vesicles have wild application prospects, which may make them widely used for liquid biopsy tests.
• 7-EV protein signature serves as a proof-of-concept and has the potential to facilitate the further development of biomarker tests for pancreatic cancer.

Advantages

• Identify and validate new EV markers from plasma that distinguish patients with pancreatic cancer from subjects with benign pancreatic diseases.
• The biomarkers are used in combination with traditional clinical tools.
• One-stop service for fully customized design.

CD BioGlyco dedicates Cancer Glycogene research, providing full-scale custom cancer glycogene discovery services. We are the preferred supplier for clients worldwide. Please feel free to contact us for more information.