Characterization of the glycosylation pattern in cholangiolocellular carcinoma

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K19049
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Human pathology
• Research Institution: University of Fukui
• Principal Investigator: Hoshino Hitomi 福井大学, 学術研究院医学系部門, 特命助教 (90500710)
• Research Collaborator: KOBAYASHI Motohiro 福井大学, 学術研究院医学系部門, 教授 (00362137)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 細胆管細胞癌 / 糖鎖 / MUC1

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study was undertaken to determine whether sulfated glycans could serve as a cholangiolocellular carcinoma (CoCC) marker. We showed that sulfated glycans are preferentially expressed at the apical membrane of cholangiocytes found in small-sized intrahepatic bile ducts in normal liver and in canalicular structures formed in CoCC. We also reported that apical membrane expression of sulfated glycans colocalized with that of mucin 1 (MUC1) core proteins in CoCC. We showed that N-acetylglucosamine-6-O-sulfotransferase 2 (GlcNAc6ST-2) catalyze biosynthesis of sulfated glycans in cholangiocytes. These results indicate that apical membrane localization of MUC1 proteins decorated with GlcNAc6ST-2-dependent sulfated glycans may mark cholangiocytes with cholangiolar/ductular differentiation and could serve as a useful CoCC marker.

Free Research Field

糖鎖生物学