Discussion 3 - Glycoproteins, glycosylation & Cancer

Dq3 Topic: Glycoproteins, Glycosylation & Cancer

Topic: Glycoproteins, glycosylation & Cancer

This week you learned about the importance of glycoproteins,  glycosylation and the "sugar code" and its importance for many important  cellular processes, ranging from cell-cell interaction, immune function  and cancer. You heard that the extracellular carbohydrate coat, called  glycocalyx, plays a role in tumor formation and progression. As you work  on this assignment, consider that approximately half of all human  proteins known to date are glycosylated and the majority cancer  biomarkers are comprised of glycoproteins. About 270,000 new cases of  breast cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. per year and 6.9% of all cancer  related deaths will result from breast cancer. Also consider that  the human receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-2 (HER2), one of the  proteins found mutated in many breast cancer patients, has multiple  sites of N-glycosylation important for its biological function.

This week I want you to read the following scientific review article:
Scott  D.A. & Drake R.R. Glycosylation and its implication in breast  cancer. Exp. Rev. Proteomics. 2019 Aug.; 16(8): 665-680) and also do  some additional literature research on NCBI PubMed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) on this week's topic.
Then discuss the following aspects with your class mates:

1. Is there scientific evidence showing a role of glycosylation in tumor development and/or metastasis?
2. Which enzymes important for glycosylation are discussed to play a role in tumorigenesis, particularly in breast cancer?
3. Which sugar residues and "glyco-antigens" are discussed to play a role in tumorigenesis, particularly in breast cancer?
4. What are the diagnostic methods used to detect alterations in glycosylation patterns amongst normal cell and tumor cells?
5. What is meant by the term "sugar code"?
6. What are the challenges in the field of glyco-biology?