Overexpression of α2,3sialyl T-antigen in breast cancer determined by miniaturized glycosyltransferase assays and confirmed using tissue microarray immunohistochemical analysis

Glycan structure alterations during cancer regulate disease progression and represent clinical biomarkers. The study determined the degree to which changes in glycosyltransferase activities during cancer can be related to aberrant cell-surface tumor associated carbohydrate structures (TACA). To this end, changes in sialyltransferase (sialylT), fucosyltransferase (fucT) and galactosyltransferase (galT) activity were measured in normal and tumor tissue using a miniaturized enzyme activity assay and synthetic glycoconjugates bearing terminal LacNAc Type-I (Gal beta 1-3GlcNAc), LacNAc Type-II (Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc), and mucin core-1/Type-III (Gal beta 1-3GalNAc) structures. These data were related to TACA using tissue microarrays containing 115 breast and 26 colon cancer specimen. The results show that primary human breast and colon tumors, but not adjacent normal tissue, express elevated beta 1,3GalT and alpha 2,3SialylT activity that can form alpha 2,3SialylatedType-IIIglycans (Sia alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-3GalNAc). Prostate tumors did not exhibit such elevated enzymatic activities. alpha 1,3/4FucT activity was higher in breast, but not in colon tissue. The enzymology based prediction of enhanced alpha 2,3sialylated Type-III structures in breast tumors was verified using histochemical analysis of tissue sections and tissue microarrays. Here, the binding of two markers that recognize Gal beta 1-3GalNAc (peanut lectin and mAb A78-G/A7) was elevated in breast tumor, but not in normal control, only upon sialidase treatment. These antigens were also upregulated in colon tumors though to a lesser extent. alpha 2,3sialylatedType-III expression correlated inversely with patient HER2 expression and breast metastatic potential. Overall, enzymology measurements of glycoT activity predict truncated O-glycan structures in tumors. High expression of the alpha 2,3sialylated T-antigen O-glycans occur in breast tumors. A transformation from linear core-1 glycan to other epitopes may accompany metastasis.