TY - JOUR
T1 - Serum galectin-2, -4, and -8 are greatly increased in colon and breast cancer patients and promote cancer cell adhesion to blood vascular endothelium
AU - Barrow, Hannah
AU - Guo, Xiuli
AU - Wandall, Hans H
AU - Pedersen, Johannes W
AU - Fu, Bo
AU - Zhao, Qicheng
AU - Chen, Chen
AU - Rhodes, Jonathan M
AU - Yu, Lu-Gang
PY - 2011/11/15
Y1 - 2011/11/15
N2 - Purpose: Adhesion of disseminating tumor cells to the blood vascular endothelium is a pivotal step in metastasis. Previous investigations have shown that galectin-3 concentrations are increased in the blood-stream of patients with cancer and that galectin-3 promotes adhesion of disseminating tumor cells to vascular endothelium in vitro and experimental metastasis in vivo. This study determined the levels of galectin-1, -2, -3, -4, -8, and -9 in the sera of healthy people and patients with colon and breast cancer and assessed the influence of these galectins on cancer-endothelium adhesion. Experimental Design: Serum galectins and auto-anti-MUC1 antibodies were assessed using ELISA and mucin protein (MUC1) glycan microarrays, and cancer-endothelium adhesion was determined using monolayers of human microvascular lung endothelial cells. Results: The levels of serum galectin-2, -3, -4, and -8 were significantly increased up to 31-fold in patients with cancer and, in particular, those with metastases. As previously shown for galectin-3, the presence of these galectins enhances cancer-endothelium adhesion by interaction with the Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF; Galβ1,3GalNAcα-) disaccharide on cancer-associated MUC1. This causes MUC1 cell surface polarization, thus exposing underlying adhesion molecules that promote cancer-endothelium adhesion. Elevated circulating galectin-2 levels were associated with increased mortality in patients with colorectal cancer, but this association was suppressed when anti-MUC1 antibodies with specificity for the TF epitope ofMUC1 were also present in the circulation. Conclusions: Increased circulation of several members of the galectin family is common in patients with cancer and these may, like circulating galectin-3, also be involved in metastasis promotion.
AB - Purpose: Adhesion of disseminating tumor cells to the blood vascular endothelium is a pivotal step in metastasis. Previous investigations have shown that galectin-3 concentrations are increased in the blood-stream of patients with cancer and that galectin-3 promotes adhesion of disseminating tumor cells to vascular endothelium in vitro and experimental metastasis in vivo. This study determined the levels of galectin-1, -2, -3, -4, -8, and -9 in the sera of healthy people and patients with colon and breast cancer and assessed the influence of these galectins on cancer-endothelium adhesion. Experimental Design: Serum galectins and auto-anti-MUC1 antibodies were assessed using ELISA and mucin protein (MUC1) glycan microarrays, and cancer-endothelium adhesion was determined using monolayers of human microvascular lung endothelial cells. Results: The levels of serum galectin-2, -3, -4, and -8 were significantly increased up to 31-fold in patients with cancer and, in particular, those with metastases. As previously shown for galectin-3, the presence of these galectins enhances cancer-endothelium adhesion by interaction with the Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF; Galβ1,3GalNAcα-) disaccharide on cancer-associated MUC1. This causes MUC1 cell surface polarization, thus exposing underlying adhesion molecules that promote cancer-endothelium adhesion. Elevated circulating galectin-2 levels were associated with increased mortality in patients with colorectal cancer, but this association was suppressed when anti-MUC1 antibodies with specificity for the TF epitope ofMUC1 were also present in the circulation. Conclusions: Increased circulation of several members of the galectin family is common in patients with cancer and these may, like circulating galectin-3, also be involved in metastasis promotion.
U2 - 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-11-1462
DO - 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-11-1462
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 21933892
SN - 1078-0432
VL - 17
SP - 7035
EP - 7046
JO - Clinical Cancer Research
JF - Clinical Cancer Research
IS - 22
ER -