title: Specific N-glycan alterations are coupled in EMT induced by different density cultivation of MCF 10A epithelial cells.
abstract: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process in tumor progression during which cancer cells undergo dramatic changes acquiring highly invasive properties. In a widespread adoption of TGF-β-induced EMT model, we have previously observed that expression of bisecting GlcNAc on N-glycans was dramatically decreased. Herein, we performed in vitro studies with the MCF10A cell line. In response to low cell density, MCF10A cells suffered spontaneously morphologic and phenotypic EMT-like changes, including elongated spindle shape, extended out from edge of the cell sheet, cytoskeleton reorganization, vimentin and fibronectin up-regulation, catenins redistribution, and cadherin switching. Moreover, these phenotypic changes were associated with specific N-glycan alterations. Interestingly, the amounts of bisecting GlcNAc structure were declined, by contrast, the formation of β1-6 GlcNAc branches were obviously up-regulated during the EMT induced by sparse cell conditions. We further investigated N-glycans on the β1-integrin, which is a good target of some glycosyltransferases. The reactivity with E4-PHA lectin decreased, whereas the staining for L4-PHA lectin, which recognizes branched GlcNAc, increased in sparse cell conditions compared with dense cell conditions. Taken together, these results demonstrated that specific N-glycan alterations are coupled in EMT process and promoted cells migration at a low cell density.
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries and Life Science, Dalian Ocean University, 52. Heishijiao Street, Shahekou District, Dalian, 116023, China. xuqingsong@dlou.edu.cn.|Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Sendai, Miyagi, 981-8558, Japan. xuqingsong@dlou.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qingsong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries and Life Science, Dalian Ocean University, 52. Heishijiao Street, Shahekou District, Dalian, 116023, China.
authors.forename: Xueming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Dalian Elite Analytical Instruments Company Limited, Dalian, 116023, China.
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries and Life Science, Dalian Ocean University, 52. Heishijiao Street, Shahekou District, Dalian, 116023, China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
authors.forename: Yuguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Sendai, Miyagi, 981-8558, Japan. jgu@tohoku-mpu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries and Life Science, Dalian Ocean University, 52. Heishijiao Street, Shahekou District, Dalian, 116023, China.
authors.forename: Linsheng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011134:Polysaccharides
keywords: Cell density; Epithelial-mesenchymal transition; Migration; N-glycan; Tumor