Tumor-Associated MUG1 Tandem-Repeat Glycopeptide Microarrays to Evaluate Serum- and Monoclonal-Antibody Specificity

摘要

The membrane-bound mucin glycoprotein MUC1 is extensively overexpressed on epithelial tumor cells and considered an attractive target in the development of cancer immunotherapy and immunodiagnostics. In epithelial tumors down-regulation of glycosyltransferases, in particular the core 2 β-1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase, and up-regulation of sialyltransferases results in the formation of short saccharides with premature sialylation of the extracellular domain of mucins, exposure of the peptide backbone of these otherwise heavily glycosylated proteins, and formation of a tumor-associated epitope consisting of both the saccharide and the peptide structure.