《生命科学》 2011, 23(6): 563-568

黏蛋白型O-聚糖: 结构、功能及与肿瘤的相关性

吴士良^1，2

(1 苏州大学医学部生物化学与分子生物学系，苏州 215123；2 苏州大学生化工程研究所，苏州 215123)

摘　要：
摘　要：黏蛋白是细胞表面的或分泌的、具有高度O- 糖基化修饰的糖蛋白。黏蛋白型O- 聚糖是由多肽：N-乙酰氨基半乳糖转移酶(ppGalNAc-T) 家族催化起始合成的，在肿瘤中常常伴随着黏蛋白型O- 聚糖结构和数量上的改变，形成肿瘤特异聚糖结构(cancer-associated glycans)，如肿瘤Tn 和T 抗原等。肿瘤特异聚糖使肿瘤细胞的抗原性和黏附能力发生改变，促进肿瘤细胞的恶性增生与转移。而这些肿瘤特异聚糖结构，也为肿瘤的诊断与抗肿瘤药物或疫苗开发提供了理论基础。
关键词：糖基化；O 型聚糖；肿瘤特异聚糖；T 和Tn 抗原；肿瘤细胞
中图分类号：Q513.3 文献标志码：A

Mucin-type O-glycans in human cancer: structures and functions

WU Shi-Liang^1，2

(1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology， Medical Colleage， Soochow University， Suzhou 215123， China;2 Institute of Bioengineering， Soochow University， Suzhou 215123， China)

Abstract: Abstract: Mucins are heavily O-glycosylated glycoproteins found in mucous secretions and as transmembrane glycoproteins of the cell surface with the glycan exposed to the external environment. In mucins， O-glycans are covalently α-linked via an N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc)moiety to serine or threonine， and the structures are named mucin-type O-glycans. Mucin-type O-glycans are initiated by UDP-GalNAc: polypeptide N-Acetylgalactosa minyltransferases， which enzymatic mechanism and structural features have been a hot topic of glycosyltransferases research. Mucin-type O-glycans of cancer cells are often changed， both in structure and in quantity， developing several cancer-associated glycans， such as T and Tn antigens. These structural changes can alter the function of the cancer cells， and its antigenic and adhesive properties， as well as its potential to invade and metastasize. These cancer-associated glycans can be exploited to tumor diagnosis， and in the development of anti-tumor drug or vaccine.
Key words: glycosylation; O-glycan; cancer-associated glycan; T and Tn antigen; cancer cell