Fucosylation is a common glycosylation type in pancreatic cancer stem cell-like phenotypes.

Naoko Terao, Shinji Takamatsu, Tomomi Minehira, Tomoaki Sobajima, Kotarosumitomo Nakayama, Yoshihiro Kamada, Eiji Miyoshi

Index: World J. Gastroenterol. 21(13) , 3876-87, (2015)

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Abstract

To evaluate/isolate cancer stem cells (CSCs) from tissue or cell lines according to various definitions and cell surface markers.Lectin microarray analysis was conducted on CSC-like fractions of the human pancreatic cancer cell line Panc1 by establishing anti-cancer drug-resistant cells. Changes in glycan structure of CSC-like cells were also investigated in sphere-forming cells as well as in CSC fractions obtained from overexpression of CD24 and CD44.Several types of fucosylation were increased under these conditions, and the expression of fucosylation regulatory genes such as fucosyltransferases, GDP-fucose synthetic enzymes, and GDP-fucose transporters were dramatically enhanced in CSC-like cells. These changes were significant in gemcitabine-resistant cells and sphere cells of a human pancreatic cancer cell line, Panc1. However, downregulation of cellular fucosylation by knockdown of the GDP-fucose transporter did not alter gemcitabine resistance, indicating that increased cellular fucosylation is a result of CSC-like transformation.Fucosylation might be a biomarker of CSC-like cells in pancreatic cancer.