title: Glycoconjugate with Ulex europaeus agglutinin-I-binding sites in normal mucosa, adenoma, and carcinoma of the human large bowel.
abstract: Cancerous lesions and nonneoplastic mucosa of surgically extirpated specimens from 94 patients with colorectal carcinoma (of the right colon, 31 patients; of the left colon, 29 patients; and of the rectum, 34 patients) and endoscopically polypectomized specimens from 18 patients with rectal adenoma were examined with fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated or horse-radish peroxidase-conjugated Ulex europaeus agglutinin-I (UEA-I) specific to a certain terminal alpha-L-fucosyl residue in glycoconjugates. Of the 31 patients with right colon cancers, 22 showed positive UEA-I binding in the neoplastic cell apexes, apical luminal borders, and luminal secretions. The adjacent nonneoplastic mucosa of all 31 patients, however, demonstrated positive UEA-I binding in the goblet cell mucus. UEA-I binding was positive for 23 of the 29 left colon cancers and for 28 of the 34 rectal cancers, although UEA-I binding was not revealed in the adjacent nonneoplastic mucosa for most of the cases. Of the 18 rectal adenomas, 12 specimens showed positive UEA-I binding in the apical secretions of their adenoma cells. Marked regional differences of UEA-I binding in the nonneoplastic mucosae indicated that the constituents of glycoprotein with UEA-I binding sites in goblet cell mucus differed significantly between the human right and left large bowels. Positive UEA-I binding in many rectal cancerous and adenomatous lesions suggested that a neoplastic glycoprotein with alpha-L-fucosyl residue was produced or that the terminal carbohydrate structure of glycoprotein present in the nonneoplastic mucosa was altered to bind easily with UEA-I after the neoplastic transformation had occurred. A possible relation of this UEA-I binding to blood group H(O) substance is discussed.
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000378:metabolism*; D000373:Agglutinins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001665:Binding Sites; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D009093:Mucus / Q000378:metabolism; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D000373:Agglutinins; D006023:Glycoproteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins