title: Glycosyltransferases as marker genes for the quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based detection of circulating tumour cells from blood samples of patients with breast cancer undergoing adjuvant therapy.
abstract: Altered glycosylation is a predominant feature of tumour cells; it serves for cell adhesion and detachment, respectively, and facilitates the immune escape of these cells. Therefore changes in the expression of glycosyltransferase genes could help to identify circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in the blood samples of cancer patients using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach. Blood samples of healthy donors were inoculated with certain numbers of established breast cancer cell line cells, thus creating a model system. These samples were analysed by quantitative PCR for the expression of six different glycosyltransferase genes. The three genes with the best results in the model system were consecutively applied to samples from adjuvant breast cancer patients and of healthy donors. FUT3 and GALNT6 showed the highest increase in relative expression, while GALNT6 and ST3GAL3 were the first to reach statistically significant different ∆CT-values comparing the sample with and without addition of tumour cells. These three genes were applied to patient samples, but did not show any significant results that may suggest the presence of CTCs in the blood. Although the relative expression of some of the glycosyltransferase genes exhibited reasonable results in the model system, their application to breast cancer patient samples will have to be further improved, e.g. by co-analysis of patient blood samples by gold-standard methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig‑Maximilians‑University of Munich, Munich D‑80337, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Kölbl
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig‑Maximilians‑University of Munich, Munich D‑80337, Germany.
authors.forename: Roman A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hiller
authors.affiliation: Translational Molecular Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77054, USA.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig‑Maximilians‑University of Munich, Munich D‑80337, Germany.
authors.forename: Friederike
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liesche
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig‑Maximilians‑University of Munich, Munich D‑80337, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heublein
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig‑Maximilians‑University of Munich, Munich D‑80337, Germany.
authors.forename: Lennard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig‑Maximilians‑University of Munich, Munich D‑80337, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hutter
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig‑Maximilians‑University of Munich, Munich D‑80337, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Friese
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig‑Maximilians‑University of Munich, Munich D‑80337, Germany.
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Jeschke
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig‑Maximilians‑University of Munich, Munich D‑80337, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Andergassen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D005647:Fucosyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016695:Glycosyltransferases / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017350:N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism*; D012313:RNA / Q000097:blood / Q000302:isolation & purification; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012799:Sialyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation; D000094663:beta-Galactoside alpha-2,3-Sialyltransferase; D000097763:Polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D005647:Fucosyltransferases; D016695:Glycosyltransferases; D017350:N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferases; D012313:RNA; D012799:Sialyltransferases; D000094663:beta-Galactoside alpha-2,3-Sialyltransferase; D000097763:Polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase; C019818:3-galactosyl-N-acetylglucosaminide 4-alpha-L-fucosyltransferase; C000722087:ST3GAL1 protein, human