Tumor-associated Carbohydrate Antigens Research Articles

Tumor-Associated Carbohydrate Antigens Targeting Immunotherapy

癌化プロセスにおいて、細胞膜表面に発現するユニークな糖鎖構造は「腫瘍関連糖鎖抗原」と定義されており、様々な癌の悪性形質に寄与していることが報告されている。代表的な腫瘍関連糖鎖抗原の1つであるTn抗原は様々な癌組織で広範に検出されることから、癌の診断マーカーや分子標的治療薬として有望視されている。これまでに、様々なTn抗原に対する抗体療法およびワクチン療法が開発されてきたが、十分な治療効果が得られていない。本稿では、Tn抗体作製から得られた知見、Tn抗体を用いた癌免疫治療法（抗体治療、CAR-T細胞療法、抗体–薬物複合体）の進捗状況について、腫瘍微小環境を踏まえて議論する。

The prognostic evaluation of CA19-9, D-dimer and TNFAIP3/A20 in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

This study aimed to explore the significance and prognostic value of serum tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), D-dimer, and tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3/A20) in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).Our study included 148 patients treated for PDAC at Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital Affiliated to Yangzhou University from January 2012 to December 2016. Cutoff prognostic values were predicted using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess the survival rates of patients. Univariate and multivariate COX regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic factors.The recommended cutoff values of neutrophil-lymphocyte rate (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte rate (PLR), CA19-9, and D-dimer were 2.04 (sensitivity, 0.59; specificity, 0.9; area under the ROC curve [AUC], 0.749; P < .001), 52.94 (sensitivity, 0.73; specificity, 0.95; AUC, 0.829; P < .001), 176.66 U/mL (sensitivity, 0.7; specificity, 0.9; AUC, 0.794; P < .001), and 1.18 mg/L (sensitivity, 0.82; specificity, 0.9; AUC, 0.845; P < .001), respectively. Positive TNFAIP3/A20 expression was considered as an inclusion criterion. Serum CA19-9 expression was related with lymph node metastasis (P = .010), tumor-lymph node-metastasis (TNM) stage (P < .001), and survival rate (P < .001). D-dimer was correlated with tumor differentiation grade (P = .014), tumor size (P = .045), TNM stage (P < .001), and survival rate (P < .001). TNFAIP3/A20 was correlated with tumor differentiation grade (P < .001), body mass index (BMI) (P < .001), TNM stage (P = .014), and survival rate (P < .001). Kaplan-Meier curves showed that PDAC patients had significant differences in CA19-9, D-dimer, and TNFAIP3/A20 expressions (P < .05). CA19-9, D-dimer, TNM stage, tumor differentiation grade, and TNFAIP3/A20 were independent prognostic markers for PDAC in univariate and multivariate COX analyses.CA19-9, D-dimer, and TNFAIP3/A20 were found to be independent prognostic markers for PDAC patients.

Synthesis and Evaluation of Liposomal Anti-GM3 Cancer Vaccine Candidates Covalently and Noncovalently Adjuvanted by αGalCer.

GM3, a typical tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen, is considered as an important target for cancer vaccine development, but its low immunogenicity limits its application. αGalCer, an iNKT cell agonist, has been employed as an adjuvant via a unique immune mode. Herein, we prepared and investigated two types of antitumor vaccine candidates: (a) self-adjuvanting vaccine GM3-αGalCer by conjugating GM3 with αGalCer and (b) noncovalent vaccine GM3-lipid/αGalCer, in which GM3 is linked with lipid anchor and coassembled with αGalCer. This demonstrated that βGalCer is an exceptionally optimized lipid anchor, which enables the noncovalent vaccine candidate GM3-βGalCer/αGalCer to evoke a comparable antibody level to GM3-αGalCer. However, the antibodies induced by GM3-αGalCer are better at recognition B16F10 cancer cells and more effectively activate the complement system. Our study highlights the importance of vaccine constructs utilizing covalent or noncovalent assembly between αGalCer with carbohydrate antigens and choosing an appropriate lipid anchor for use in noncovalent vaccine formulation.

Synthesis and immunological evaluation of N-acyl modified Globo H derivatives as anticancer vaccine candidates.

Globo H is a tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen (TACA), which serves as a valuable target for antitumor vaccine or cancer immunotherapies. However, most TACAs are T-cell-independent, and they cannot induce powerful immune response due to their poor immunogenicity. To address this problem, herein, several Globo H analogues with modification on the N-acyl group were prepared through a preactivation-based glycosylation strategy from the non-reducing end to the reducing end. These modified Globo H derivatives were then conjugated with carrier protein CRM197 to form glycoconjugates as anticancer vaccine candidates, which were used in combination with adjuvant glycolipid C34 for immunological studies. The immunological effects of these synthetic vaccine candidates were evaluated on Balb/c mice. The results showed that the fluorine-modified N-acyl Globo H conjugates can induce higher titers of IgG antibodies that can recognize the naturally occurring Globo H antigen on the surface of cancer cells and can eliminate cancer cells in the presence of a complement, indicating the potential of these synthetic glycoconjugates as anticancer vaccine candidates.

Crystal structures of peanut lectin in the presence of synthetic β-N- and β-S-galactosides disclose evidence for the recognition of different glycomimetic ligands.

Carbohydrate-lectin interactions are involved in important cellular recognition processes, including viral and bacterial infections, inflammation and tumor metastasis. Hence, structural studies of lectin-synthetic glycan complexes are essential for understanding lectin-recognition processes and for the further design of promising chemotherapeutics that interfere with sugar-lectin interactions. Plant lectins are excellent models for the study of the molecular-recognition process. Among them, peanut lectin (PNA) is highly relevant in the field of glycobiology because of its specificity for β-galactosides, showing high affinity towards the Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen, a well known tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen. Given this specificity, PNA is one of the most frequently used molecular probes for the recognition of tumor cell-surface O-glycans. Thus, it has been extensively used in glycobiology for inhibition studies with a variety of β-galactoside and β-lactoside ligands. Here, crystal structures of PNA are reported in complex with six novel synthetic hydrolytically stable β-N- and β-S-galactosides. These complexes disclosed key molecular-binding interactions of the different sugars with PNA at the atomic level, revealing the roles of specific water molecules in protein-ligand recognition. Furthermore, binding-affinity studies by isothermal titration calorimetry showed dissociation-constant values in the micromolar range, as well as a positive multivalency effect in terms of affinity in the case of the divalent compounds. Taken together, this work provides a qualitative structural rationale for the upcoming synthesis of optimized glycoclusters designed for the study of lectin-mediated biological processes. The understanding of the recognition of β-N- and β-S-galactosides by PNA represents a benchmark in protein-carbohydrate interactions since they are novel synthetic ligands that do not belong to the family of O-linked glycosides.

Profiling Tumor-Associated Carbohydrate Antigen Expression in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Profiling Tumor-Associated Carbohydrate Antigen Expression in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Directed Evolution of Therapeutic Antibodies Targeting Glycosylation in Cancer

Simple SummaryWe generated a platform for designing optimized functional therapeutic antibodies against cancer glycans. The target tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen is commonly expressed in colon and pancreatic cancers. We developed a system for selection of potent antibodies by yeast surface display against this carbohydrate antigen, then showed that elite clones have potent affinity, specificity, cancer cell binding, and therapeutic efficacy. These tools have broad utility for manipulating and engineering antibodies against carbohydrate antigens, and provide major innovative avenues of research in the field of cancer therapy and diagnostics.Glycosylation patterns commonly change in cancer, resulting in expression of tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACA). While promising, currently available anti-glycan antibodies are not useful for clinical cancer therapy. Here, we show that potent anti-glycan antibodies can be engineered to acquire cancer therapeutic efficacy. We designed yeast surface display to generate and select for therapeutic antibodies against the TACA SLea (CA19−9) in colon and pancreatic cancers. Elite clones showed increased affinity, better specificity, improved binding of human pancreatic and colon cancer cell lines, and increased complement-dependent therapeutic efficacy. Molecular modeling explained the structural basis for improved antibody functionality at the molecular level. These new tools of directed molecular evolution and selection for effective anti-glycan antibodies, provide insights into the mechanisms of cancer therapy targeting glycosylation, and provide major methodological advances that are likely to open up innovative avenues of research in the field of cancer theranostics.

Synthesis of MUC1-derived glycopeptide bearing a novel triazole STn analog

The synthesis of MUC1 glycopeptides bearing modified tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) represents an effective strategy to develop potential antitumor vaccines that trigger strong immune response. In this context, we present herein the multistep synthesis of the triazole glycosyl amino acid Neu5Ac-α/β2-triazole-6-βGalNAc-ThrOH 1 as STn antigen analog, along with its assembly on the corresponding MUC1 peptide to give NAcProAsp [Neu5Acα/β2-triazole-6-βGalNAc]ThrArgProGlyOH 2. Despite interacting differently with SM3 monoclonal antibody, as shown by molecular dynamic simulations, this unnatural triazole glycopeptide may represent a promising candidate for cancer immunotherapy.

O-glycan recognition and function in mice and human cancers.

Protein glycosylation represents a nearly ubiquitous post-translational modification, and altered glycosylation can result in clinically significant pathological consequences. Here we focus on O-glycosylation in tumor cells of mice and humans. O-glycans are those linked to serine and threonine (Ser/Thr) residues via N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc), which are oligosaccharides that occur widely in glycoproteins, such as those expressed on the surfaces and in secretions of all cell types. The structure and expression of O-glycans are dependent on the cell type and disease state of the cells. There is a great interest in O-glycosylation of tumor cells, as they typically express many altered types of O-glycans compared with untransformed cells. Such altered expression of glycans, quantitatively and/or qualitatively on different glycoproteins, is used as circulating tumor biomarkers, such as CA19-9 and CA-125. Other tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs), such as the Tn antigen and sialyl-Tn antigen (STn), are truncated O-glycans commonly expressed by carcinomas on multiple glycoproteins; they contribute to tumor development and serve as potential biomarkers for tumor presence and stage, both in immunohistochemistry and in serum diagnostics. Here we discuss O-glycosylation in murine and human cells with a focus on colorectal, breast, and pancreatic cancers, centering on the structure, function and recognition of O-glycans. There are enormous opportunities to exploit our knowledge of O-glycosylation in tumor cells to develop new diagnostics and therapeutics.

Macrophage Class A Scavenger Receptors Bind Tumor‐Associated Carbohydrate Antigens and Promote Breast Cancer Growth and Metastases in Mice

Tumor‐associated macrophages (TAMs) play a key role in determining the immune response in cancer. Macrophages express pattern‐recognition receptors, such as Class A Scavenger Receptors (SR‐A), that bind a variety of different ligands and regulate macrophage immune phenotype. SR‐A expression by TAMs is thought to reflect a tumor‐promoting M2 macrophage phenotype, and the accumulation of SR‐A expressing macrophages is associated with increased tumor aggressiveness and poor patient prognosis in a variety of cancers, including breast cancer. Previous studies indicate that SR‐A ligands are present in the medium of cultured tumor cells. To test the possibility that SR‐A may directly bind to tumor cells, we developed a flow cytometry based binding assay using a soluble SR‐A (sSR‐A) protein and showed that SR‐A binds directly to breast cancer cells. This binding depended on glycosylation indicating SR‐A binds to cell‐surface glycans on tumor cells, which is important because tumor‐associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) are associated with immune suppression, tumor progression, and poor prognosis for breast cancer patients. The ability of SR‐A to bind TACAs was tested using carbohydrate mimetic peptides (CMPs) that are structurally similar to TACAs. sSR‐A bound to CMPs, and a CMP designed to react with mannose‐rich structures blocked sSR‐A binding to tumor cells. Because SR‐A induces an immune‐suppressive macrophage phenotype, we hypothesized that SR‐A would enhance the progression of breast cancer. Using mouse models of spontaneous breast cancer, our results show that development of palpable tumors was significantly delayed and the number of lung metastases significantly decreased in mice that do not express SR‐A (SR‐A−/−). These findings demonstrate that SR‐A binds to TACAs on breast cancer cells, and that SR‐A enhances breast cancer growth and metastases. Together with previous findings, our results indicate a model in which SR‐A binds to TACAs to induce an immune‐suppressive macrophage phenotype, which contributes to immune suppression, tumor growth, and metastases.Support or Funding InformationThis research was supported by grants from the NIH (R21CA185691), the Arkansas Breast Cancer Research Program, and a DEAP award from UAMS.

Comparative immunological studies of tumor-associated Lewis X, Lewis Y, and KH-1 antigens

Tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens Lewis X (Lex), Lewis Y (Ley), and KH-1 are useful targets for cancer immunotherapy. In this regard, an insight into the structure-immunogenicity relationships of these antigens is important but this has not been systematically investigated yet. In the current study, Lex, Ley, and KH-1 antigens with a lactose unit at the reducing end as a spacer were synthesized and coupled with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) protein. Immunological evaluations of the resultant conjugates revealed that they all could elicit robust immune responses whilst the Ley conjugate could provoke the highest titers of total and IgG antibodies. The binding assays of their antisera to each antigen and to cancer cells showed that each antiserum had extensive cross-reaction with all three antigens as protein conjugates and strong but somewhat antigen-selective binding towards MCF-7 cancer cell. Moreover, none of these antisera had obvious binding to SKMEL-28 cancer cell that does not express Lex, Ley and KH-1. The results of assays of these antisera to mediate complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) to MCF-7 and SKMEL-28 cancer cells were very similar to the results of binding assays. Thus, it was concluded that all three antigens could form effective conjugate vaccines whereas the Ley conjugate induced the most robust immune responses and the antiserum of Lex had the highest binding and cytotoxicity to target cancer cells. In addition, as the antibodies induced by each antigen had extensive cross-reaction with other two antigens, either Lex or Ley or the two combined can be utilized to formulate effective conjugate vaccines for cancer immunotherapy. Another paradigm-shifting discovery of this study is that the presentation of Lex, Ley, and KH-1 antigens on cancer cell can be different from that in synthetic conjugates, which should be taken into consideration during the design and optimization of related cancer vaccines or immunotherapies.

Abstract P3-09-18: Immunization of breast cancer patients in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy: Results of a phase Ib clinical trial

Abstract We have developed a peptide mimotope-based cancer vaccine, P10s-PADRE, targeting tumor associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs). We have previously shown safety, feasibility and induction of immune response in a phase I clinical trial in stage IV breast cancer patients. In the current clinical trial, immunization with P10s-PADRE vaccine is combined with the standard-of-care chemotherapy in neo-adjuvant setting in subjects diagnosed with early stage ER-positive breast cancer. Various schedules (timing of vaccination doses relative to chemo) for combination therapy were tested. Immunological endpoint variable include antibody response and activation of natural killer (NK) cells as tested in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Tumor size before treatment and after surgery was measured for each subject. The secondary endpoint was pathologic complete response (pCR). We observed induction of antibody response and activation of NK cells independent of each other. Vaccination affected the expression of several NK markers including CD94 and NKp46 as we observed a significant upregulation of NKp46 (median = 1.79, P&amp;lt;0.0001), and CD94 (median = 1.50, P&amp;lt;0.0001) in response to immunization. The data indicate a significant increase in serum IFN-γ (Median=1.74, P=0.0016) upon vaccination. Increase in IFN-γ was positively correlated with increase in both CD69 (r = 0.46, P=0.0321) and NKp46 (r = 0.39, P=0.0763) on CD56-dim NK cells. Tumor shrinkage was associated with an increase in NK cells, upregulation of NKp46 and CD94 molecules, and increase in frequency of NKp46-positive and CD94-positive CD56-dim NK cells. Among 25 subjects enrolled in 5 different immunization schedules, 5 experienced complete eradication of their primary tumors that was associated with vaccine induced increase in the frequency of CD94-positive CD56-dim NK cells (p= 0.0473). The results are intriguing and warrant expansion of the immunologically effective combination schedule to further establish the clinical efficacy along with potential biomarkers of response. Citation Format: Issam Makhoul, Fariba Jousheghany, Saddam Mohammed, Eric Siegel, Angela Pennisi, J Thaddeus Beck, Laura Hutchins, Thomas Kieber-Emmons, Behjatolah Monzavi-Karbassi. Immunization of breast cancer patients in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy: Results of a phase Ib clinical trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-09-18.

Synthesis of glycoimmunogen Tn-Thr-PS A1 via hydrazone bond and stability optimization of PS A1 monosaccharide mimics under vaccine development conditions

Previously, our group constructed several immunogens utilizing oxime linkage to conjugate a T-cell stimulatory zwitterionic polysaccharide PS A1 and tumor associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) in acetate buffer. Here, a semi-synthetic immunogen was synthesized using hydrazone conjugation between PS A1 and a glycopeptide hydrazide (α-D-GalNAc-L-Thr-NH-NH2) with an excellent loading in PBS buffer. To get robust immune response, the retention of zwitterionic character of PS A1 under vaccine construction conditions is essential. In this regard, the stability of embedded pyruvate acetal moiety in tetrasaccharide repeating unit of PS A1 can validate the retention of the dual charges. Therefore, rather than utilizing this highly immunogenic PS A1 fully, stability studies were performed with synthetic 1-thiophenyl-4,6-O-pyruvate acetal-D-galactopyranose in varying acetate buffer pHs and time intervals. Furthermore, 1-propyl-D-galactofuranose was synthesized to mimick the D-Galf of PS A1 to examine regioselective hydrazone and oxime formation with α-D-GalNAc-L-Thr-NH-NH2 and α-D-GalNAc-ONH2 moieties respectively.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of new ganglioside GM3 analogues as potential agents for cancer therapy

Ganglioside GM3 is well known as a tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen on several types of tumors. Many studies have demonstrated that GM3 plays roles in cells proliferation, adhesion, motility and differentiation, which is involved in the process of cancer development. In the present study, we developed methods to synthesize GM3 analogues conveniently. By enzymatic hydrolysis and chemical procedures, two novel analogues and two known analogues were synthesized, containing lactose and glucosamine. Then anti-proliferation and anti-migration activities were evaluated by cytotoxicity assays and wound healing tests, and the data demonstrated that these analogues exhibited anticancer activities. Based on our previous studies, the structure-activity relationships were discussed. This study could provide valuable sight to find new antitumor agents for cancer therapy.

Binding of Gold(III) Porphyrin by the Pro-metastatic Regulatory Protein Human Galectin-3

Gold(III) porphyrin presents an attractive alternative to the use of, for example, cisplatin in chemotherapy. However, approaches that allow to selectively target cancer cells are highly sought. Many plant and mammalian lectins have been shown to bind oligosaccharide sequences of the aberrant glycosylation pattern found on cancerous tumors. For example human galectin-3, of the galectin family specific for β-galactoside, is overexpressed in the extracellular matrix of tumorigenous and metastatic tissues. We searched for non-carbohydrate ligands for galectin-3 that can guide a cytotoxic drug to the cancer cells by maintaining its affinity for tumor associated carbohydrate antigens. Previous findings showed that zinc tetrasulfonatophenylporphyrin can bind galectin-3 with sub-micromolar affinity without disturbing lactose binding. Gold(III) porphyrin is not only cytotoxic to cancer cells, it knows also a potential application as photosensitiser in photodynamic therapy. We investigated the binding of gold(III) porphyrin to galectin-3 using different biophysical interaction techniques and demonstrated a low micromolar affinity of human galectin-3 for the cytotoxic compound. Co-crystallization attempts in order to understand the binding mode of gold porphyrin to galectin-3 failed, but molecular docking emphasized a highly populated secondary binding site that does not hinder lactose or Thomsen Friendenreich disaccharide binding. This suggests that gold(III) porphyrin might significantly enhance its concentration and delivery to cancer cells by binding to human galectin-3 that keeps its orientation towards tumor associated carbohydrate antigens.

Induction of specific adaptive immune responses by immunization with newly designed artificial glycosphingolipids

We previously found that artificial glycosphingolipids (artGSLs) containing very-long-chain fatty acids behave as strong immunogens in mice and promote the production of antibodies recognizing the oligosaccharide portion of artGSLs as the epitope. Here, we report that the oligosaccharide structure of artGSLs influences these immunogenic properties. We evaluated the antibody-inducing activity of artGSLs with different oligosaccharide structures in mice and found strong IgG-inducing activity only with an artGSL containing a core-fucosylated tetraoligosaccharide (Manβ1,4GlcNAcβ1,4[Fucα1,6]GlcNAc). To characterize the immunogenic properties of this artGSL, we analyzed various derivatives and found that the non-reducing terminal mannose structure was critical for the antibody-inducing activity. These artGSLs also exhibited IgG-inducing activity dependent on co-administration of lipid A adjuvant, but no cytokine-inducing activity similar to α-galactosylceramide was detected. Furthermore, repetitive immunization with the artGSL promoted the production of antibodies against a core-fucosylated α-fetoprotein isoform (AFP-L3) known as a hepatocellular carcinoma–specific antigen. These results indicate that the newly designed artGSLs specifically induce adaptive immune responses and promote antibody production by B cells, which can be utilized to develop anti-glycoconjugate antibodies and cancer vaccines targeting tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens.

The architecture of the IgG anti-carbohydrate repertoire in primary antibody deficiencies

AbstractImmune system failure in primary antibody deficiencies (PADs) has been linked to recurrent infections, autoimmunity, and cancer, yet clinical judgment is often based on the reactivity to a restricted panel of antigens. Previously, we demonstrated that the human repertoire of carbohydrate-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) exhibits modular organization related to glycan epitope structure. The current study compares the glycan-specific IgG repertoires between different PAD entities. Distinct repertoire profiles with extensive qualitative glycan-recognition defects were observed, which are characterized by the common loss of Galα and GalNAc reactivity and disease-specific recognition of microbial antigens, self-antigens, and tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens. Antibody repertoire analysis may provide a useful tool to elucidate the degree and the clinical implications of immune system failure in individual patients.

Design and synthesis of trivalent Tn glycoconjugate polymers by nitroxide-mediated polymerization

A new synthetic method for preparing Tn glycoconjugate polymers, containing tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens, by controlled living radical polymerization is reported. To mimic the authentic structures of Tn glycopeptide antigens and to explore the controlled living radical polymerization, three tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (GalNAc, GalNAcα1-O-Ser, and GalNAcα1-O-Thr) were attached to a styrene-type monomer through a diethylene glycol spacer. Under nitroxide-mediated polymerization, controlled living radical polymerization proceeded to afford defined glycopeptide polymers with different Tn densities and compositions. The polydispersity index (PDI) and molecular weights were increased and conversions were decreased upon increasing the concentration of Tn glycoconjugate monomers. The resulting Tn glycoconjugate polymers were characterized by NMR and IR. The spectral data indicate that the Tn glycoconjugate moiety did attach to the polymer chain and Tn glycoconjugate density could be adjusted through the nitroxide-mediated polymerization conditions. The number of Tn units containing in the polymer chains could be estimated by NMR integration. This synthetic approach provides a new and efficient tool for constructing novel Tn glycoconjugate polymers.

Ganglioside GM3 and Its Role in Cancer.

Ganglioside GM3 is strongly related with human tumors, such as lung, brain cancers and melanomas, and more and more evidences have revealed that GM3 possesses powerful effects on cancer development and progression. GM3 is over expressed on several types of cancers, and can be as a tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen, used for immunotherapy of cancers. GM3 can also inhibit tumor cells growth by anti-angiogenesis or motility and so on. Especially, GM3 has effects on the EGFR tyrosine kinase signaling, uPAR-related signaling and glycolipid-enriched microdomains, which are essential for cancer signaling conduction. It is obvious that GM3 will be a promising target for cancer treatment.

Antibodies targeting sialyl Lewis A mediate tumor clearance through distinct effector pathways.

Sialyl Lewis A (sLeA, also known as CA19-9), a tetrasaccharide selectively and highly expressed on advanced adenocarcinomas including colon, stomach, and pancreatic cancers, has long been considered as an attractive target for active and passive vaccination. While progress in antibodies targeting tumor-associated protein antigens resulted in an impressive array of therapeutics for cancer treatment, similar progress in exploiting tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens, such as sLeA, has been hampered by the lack of a detailed understanding of the singular characteristics of these antigens. We have addressed this issue by analyzing antibodies derived from patients immunized with an sLeA/KLH vaccine. These antibodies were engineered to mediate tumor clearance in vivo in preclinical models through Fc-FcγR interactions. However, in contrast to protein antigens in which hFcγRIIIA engagement was both necessary and sufficient to mediate tumor clearance in both preclinical and clinical settings, a similar selective dependence was not seen for anti-sLeA antibodies. Thus, re-engineering the Fc portion of sLeA-targeting antibodies to broadly enhance their affinity for activating FcγRs led to an enhanced therapeutic effect. These findings will facilitate the development of more efficient anticancer therapies and further advance this promising class of therapeutic antibodies into clinical use.