Glycomic, Glycoproteomic, and Proteomic Profiling of Philippine Lung Cancer and Peritumoral Tissues: Case Series Study of Patients Stages I-III

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) accounting for majority of lung cancers. Thus, it is important to find potential biomarkers, such as glycans and glycoproteins, which can be used as diagnostic tools against NSCLC. Here, the N-glycome, proteome, and N-glycosylation distribution maps of tumor and peritumoral tissues of Filipino lung cancer patients (n = 5) were characterized. We present several case studies with varying stages of cancer development (I-III), mutation status (EGFR, ALK), and biomarker expression based on a three-gene panel (CD133, KRT19, and MUC1). Although the profiles of each patient were unique, specific trends arose that correlated with the role of aberrant glycosylation in cancer progression. Specifically, we observed a general increase in the relative abundance of high-mannose and sialofucosylated N-glycans in tumor samples. Analysis of the glycan distribution per glycosite revealed that these sialofucosylated N-glycans were specifically attached to glycoproteins involved in key cellular processes, including metabolism, cell adhesion, and regulatory pathways. Protein expression profiles showed significant enrichment of dysregulated proteins involved in metabolism, adhesion, cell-ECM interactions, and N-linked glycosylation, supporting the protein glycosylation results. The present case series study provides the first demonstration of a multi-platform mass-spectrometric analysis specifically for Filipino lung cancer patients.

N-Glycan and Glycopeptide Serum Biomarkers in Philippine Lung Cancer Patients Identified Using Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Aberrant glycosylation has been extensively reported in cancer, with fundamental changes in the glycosylation patterns of cell-surface and secreted proteins largely occurring during cancer progression. As such, serum glycan and glycopeptide biomarkers have been discovered using mass spectrometry and proposed for cancer detection. Here, we report for the first time potential serum N-glycan and glycopeptide biomarkers for Philippine lung cancer patients. The N-glycan and glycoprotein profiles of a cohort (n = 26 patients, n = 22 age- and gender-matched) of lung cancer patients were analyzed and compared to identify potential N-glycan and glycopeptide serum biomarkers using nano-QToF-MS/MS and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry dynamic multiple monitoring methods, respectively. Statistical analyses identified differential N-glycan and glycopeptide abundances. The N-glycans were mostly sialylated and sialofucosylated branched structures. The glycopeptides involved proteins in complement and coagulation cascades (p _adj = 6.418 × 10^-4), innate immunity (p _adj = 6.094 × 10^-3), acute inflammatory response (p _adj = 6.404 × 10^-5), defense response (p _adj = 2.082 × 10^-4), complement activation pathways (p _adj = 1.895 × 10^-2), and immunoglobulin-mediated immune response pathways (p _adj = 4.818 × 10^-2). Biomarker models were constructed using serum N-glycans [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.775; 95% CI: 0.617-0.931] and glycopeptides (AUC = 0.959; 95% CI: 0.85-1.0), with glycopeptides having higher accuracies than N-glycans. The results suggest that in the Philippine lung cancer patient sera, specific N-glycans and site-specific glycans are differentially expressed between cases and controls. This report represents the first serum glycan and glycopeptide biomarkers of Philippine lung cancer patients, further demonstrating the utility of mass spectrometry-based glycomic and glycoproteomic methods.