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Ahrens TD, Bang-Christensen SR, Jørgensen AM, Løppke C, Spliid CB, Sand NT, Clausen TM, Salanti A, Agerbæk MØ. The Role of Proteoglycans in Cancer Metastasis and Circulating Tumor Cell Analysis. Front Cell Dev Biol 2020; 8:749. [PMID: 32984308 PMCID: PMC7479181 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are accessible by liquid biopsies via an easy blood draw. They represent not only the primary tumor site, but also potential metastatic lesions, and could thus be an attractive supplement for cancer diagnostics. However, the analysis of rare CTCs in billions of normal blood cells is still technically challenging and novel specific CTC markers are needed. The formation of metastasis is a complex process supported by numerous molecular alterations, and thus novel CTC markers might be found by focusing on this process. One example of this is specific changes in the cancer cell glycocalyx, which is a network on the cell surface composed of carbohydrate structures. Proteoglycans are important glycocalyx components and consist of a protein core and covalently attached long glycosaminoglycan chains. A few CTC assays have already utilized proteoglycans for both enrichment and analysis of CTCs. Nonetheless, the biological function of proteoglycans on clinical CTCs has not been studied in detail so far. Therefore, the present review describes proteoglycan functions during the metastatic cascade to highlight their importance to CTCs. We also outline current approaches for CTC assays based on targeting proteoglycans by their protein cores or their glycosaminoglycan chains. Lastly, we briefly discuss important technical aspects, which should be considered for studying proteoglycans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theresa D Ahrens
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sara R Bang-Christensen
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
- VarCT Diagnostics, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Caroline Løppke
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Charlotte B Spliid
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Nicolai T Sand
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Thomas M Clausen
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Ali Salanti
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mette Ø Agerbæk
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
- VarCT Diagnostics, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Ghiselli G. Heparin Binding Proteins as Therapeutic Target: An Historical Account and Current Trends. MEDICINES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2019; 6:E80. [PMID: 31362364 PMCID: PMC6789896 DOI: 10.3390/medicines6030080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2019] [Revised: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The polyanionic nature and the ability to interact with proteins with different affinities are properties of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) that determine their biological function. In designing drugs affecting the interaction of proteins with GAGs the challenge has been to generate agents with high binding specificity. The example to emulated has been a heparin-derived pentasaccharide that binds to antithrombin-III with high affinity. However, the portability of this model to other biological situations is questioned on several accounts. Because of their structural flexibility, oligosaccharides with different sulfation and uronic acid conformation can display the same binding proficiency to different proteins and produce comparable biological effects. This circumstance represents a formidable obstacle to the design of drugs based on the heparin scaffold. The conceptual framework discussed in this article is that through a direct intervention on the heparin-binding functionality of proteins is possible to achieve a high degree of action specificity. This objective is currently pursued through two strategies. The first makes use of small molecules for which in the text we provide examples from past and present literature concerning angiogenic factors and enzymes. The second approach entails the mutagenesis of the GAG-binding site of proteins as a means to generate a new class of biologics of therapeutic interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giancarlo Ghiselli
- Independent Researcher, 1326 Spruce Street Suite 706, Philadephia, PA 19107, USA.
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Kamato D, Bhaskarala VV, Mantri N, Oh TG, Ling D, Janke R, Zheng W, Little PJ, Osman N. RNA sequencing to determine the contribution of kinase receptor transactivation to G protein coupled receptor signalling in vascular smooth muscle cells. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0180842. [PMID: 28719611 PMCID: PMC5515425 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2017] [Accepted: 06/22/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) signalling covers three major mechanisms. GPCR agonist engagement allows for the G proteins to bind to the receptor leading to a classical downstream signalling cascade. The second mechanism is via the utilization of the β-arrestin signalling molecule and thirdly via transactivation dependent signalling. GPCRs can transactivate protein tyrosine kinase receptors (PTKR) to activate respective downstream signalling intermediates. In the past decade GPCR transactivation dependent signalling was expanded to show transactivation of serine/threonine kinase receptors (S/TKR). Kinase receptor transactivation enormously broadens the GPCR signalling paradigm. This work utilizes next generation RNA-sequencing to study the contribution of transactivation dependent signalling to total protease activated receptor (PAR)-1 signalling. Transactivation, assessed as gene expression, accounted for 50 percent of the total genes regulated by thrombin acting through PAR-1 in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells. GPCR transactivation of PTKRs is approximately equally important as the transactivation of the S/TKR with 209 and 177 genes regulated respectively, via either signalling pathway. This work shows that genome wide studies can provide powerful insights into GPCR mediated signalling pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle Kamato
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
- * E-mail:
| | - Venkata Vijayanand Bhaskarala
- Department of Biotechnology and Environmental Biology, School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | - Nitin Mantri
- Department of Biotechnology and Environmental Biology, School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | - Tae Gyu Oh
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, Australia
| | - Dora Ling
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
| | - Reearna Janke
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
| | - Wenhua Zheng
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, China
| | - Peter J Little
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
- Xinhua College of Sun Yat-sen University, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China
| | - Narin Osman
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
- Diabetes Complications Group, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
- Monash University, Departments of Medicine and Immunology, Central and Eastern Clinical School, Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Ghiselli G. Drug-Mediated Regulation of Glycosaminoglycan Biosynthesis. Med Res Rev 2016; 37:1051-1094. [DOI: 10.1002/med.21429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2016] [Revised: 10/26/2016] [Accepted: 10/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Giancarlo Ghiselli
- Glyconova Srl; Parco Scientifico Silvano Fumero; Via Ribes 5 Colleretto Giacosa, (TO) Italy
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