The Mercurio Lab was excited to finally have an in-person meeting! We had the chance to hear two of our graduate students, Emmet and Ayush, present their great work. We absolutely cherish the opportunity to come together after such a long time.
Our Paper Was Featured in Mammary Cell News!
Our paper on O-linked glycans defining stem cell populations in breast cancer was the top publication featured in Mammary Cell News this week! We are excited to share these findings and further the discussion of glycosylation in cancer stem cells.
Melanie's paper on O-linked glycosylation defining stem cell populations is published!
ABSTRACT
We pursued the hypothesis that specific glycans can be used to distinguish breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) and influence their function. Comparison of CSCs and non-CSCs from multiple breast cancer models revealed that CSCs are distinguished by expression of α2,3 sialylated core2 O-linked glycans. We identified a lectin, SLBR-N, which binds to O-linked α2,3 sialic acids, that was able to enrich for CSCs in vitro and in vivo. This O-glycan is expressed on CD44 and promotes its interaction with hyaluronic acid, facilitating CD44 signaling and CSC properties. In con- trast, FUT3, which contributes to sialyl Lewis X (sLeX) production, is preferentially expressed in the non-CSC popu- lation, and it antagonizes CSC function. Collectively, our data indicate that SLBR-N can be more efficient at enriching for CSCs than CD44 itself because its use avoids the issues of CD44 splicing and glycan status. These data also reveal how differential glycosylation influences CSC fate.
Walker MR, Goel HL, Mukhopadhyay D, Chhoy P, Karner ER, Clark JL, Liu H, Li R, Zhu JL, Chen S, Mahal LK, Bensing BA, Mercurio AM. O-linked α2,3 sialylation defines stem cell populations in breast cancer. Science Advances. 2022 January 07. PMID: 34995107
Student Spotlight: Graduate Student Emmet Karner
Our very own Emmet Karner was recently highlighted in the UMass Chan Medical School Student Spotlight series!! The article and video highlights Emmet’s inspiration and love for science and research.
We are very proud of Emmet and all the hard work he puts into his research!
You can find the article and video here.
Upcoming Publication!
Our paper on protein glycosylation and breast cancer stem cells, headed by former graduate student Dr. Melanie Walker, is In Press at Science Advances and will be published in January, 2022.
We are excited to share our findings and bring more attention to the emerging field of glycosylation in regards to breast cancer!