A role of sialic acid for tumor angiogenesis

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25430122
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Tumor biology
• Research Institution: Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
• Principal Investigator: Kitazume Shinobu 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 疾患糖鎖研究チーム, 副チームリーダー (80301753)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 血管内皮細胞 / 細胞接着 / PECAM / シアル酸 / レクチン / アポトーシス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We expected that platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM) would possess lectin-like activity toward α2,6-sialic acid to ensure its homophilic interaction. We found that a longer α2,6-sialylated oligosaccharide exhibited strong inhibitory activity against homophilic PECAM interaction in vitro. Furthermore, we found that a cluster-type α2,6-sialyl N-glycan probe specifically bound to PECAM-immobilized beads. Moreover, addition of the α2,6-sialylated oligosaccharide to endothelial cells enhanced the internalization of PECAM as well as the sensitivity to apoptotic stimuli. Collectively, these findings suggest that PECAM is a sialic acid-binding lectin and that this binding property supports endothelial cell survival. Notably, our findings that α2,6-sialylated glycans influenced the susceptibility to endothelial cell apoptosis shed light on the possibility of using a glycan-based method to modulate angiogenesis.

Free Research Field

糖鎖生物学