title: The role of epithelial cell adhesion molecule N-glycosylation on apoptosis in breast cancer cells.
abstract: Glycosylation of cell surface proteins plays an important role in the regulation of apoptosis. It has been demonstrated that knockdown of epithelial cell adhesion molecule promoted apoptosis, inhibited cell proliferation, and caused cell-cycle arrest. In this study, we investigated whether and how N-glycosylation of epithelial cell adhesion molecule influenced the apoptosis in breast cancer cells. We applied the N-glycosylation mutation epithelial cell adhesion molecule plasmid to express deglycosylation of epithelial cell adhesion molecule and then to study its function. Our results showed that deglycosylation of epithelial cell adhesion molecule promoted apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation. Deglycosylation of epithelial cell adhesion molecule enhanced the cytotoxic effect of 5-fluorouracil, promoting apoptosis by downregulating the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and upregulating the expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Caspase 3 via the extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. These findings are important for a better understanding of epithelial cell adhesion molecule apoptosis regulation and suggest epithelial cell adhesion molecule as a potential target for the treatment of breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: 1 Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1 Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 2 Center for Molecular Medicine, School of Life Science and Biotechnology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jiujiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Nephrology, Hematology and Rheumatology, Yantai Affiliated Hospital, Binzhou Medical College, Yantai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: 4 Section of Oral Pathology, College of Stomatology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Tingjiao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 1 Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: 1 Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xuesong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D059447:Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000235:genetics*; D000071858:Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006031:Glycosylation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000235:genetics; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009154:Mutation
chemical_list: D000071858:Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule; D053148:Caspase 3; D005472:Fluorouracil
keywords: Epithelial cell adhesion molecule; N-glycosylation; breast cancer; cell apoptosis; signaling pathway