Abstract
Cancer cells of diverse origins express extracellular tumor-specific carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) because of aberrant glycosylation. Overexpressed TACAs on the surface of tumor cells are considered biomarkers for cancer detection and have always been prioritized for the development of novel carbohydrate-based anti-cancer vaccines. In recent years, progress has been made in developing synthetic, carbohydrate-based antitumor vaccines to improve immune responses associated with targeting these specific antigens. Tumor cells also exhaust more energy for proliferation than normal cells, by consuming excessive amounts of glucose via overexpressed sugar binding or transporting receptors located in the cellular membrane. Furthermore, inspired by the Warburg effect, glycoconjugation strategies of anticancer drugs have gained considerable attention from the scientific community. This review highlights a small cohort of recent efforts which have been made in carbohydrate-based cancer treatments, including vaccine design and the development of glycoconjugate prodrugs, glycosidase inhibiting iminosugars, and early cancer diagnosis.
Highlights
Carbohydrates are the most abundant complex biomolecules, which play pivotal roles in many cellular interactions, such as signaling to other cellular molecules or cell surface receptors [1]
Many research groups have relegated to synthesizing tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs), which have been noted by the National Institutes of Health as important biomarkers of cancer prognosis, rather than enduring a cumbersome isolation strategy [3]
TACAs have been coupled with polysaccharides [6], Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) ligand, Pam3CysSerK4 [7], and T-cell peptide epitopes [8], among others, to develop partially to fully synthetic, self-adjuvating, multi-component cancer vaccines
Summary
Carbohydrates are the most abundant complex biomolecules, which play pivotal roles in many cellular interactions, such as signaling to other cellular molecules or cell surface receptors [1]. The demand for increased energy in proliferation of cancer cells is met by GLUTs, which allow for an increased uptake of glucose at a higher rate than normal cells—a phenomenon commonly referred to as the “Warburg effect” [10] This effect has garnered much attention from the community, as many scientists have designed and developed sugar-based targeted drug delivery. We will discuss the recent carbohydrate-based vaccine developments with improved immune responses, glycoconjugated cytotoxic prodrugs for targeted drug delivery, glucosidase inhibiting iminosugars, and early cancer detection
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