Glycosphingolipids are mediators of cancer plasticity through independent signaling pathways

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Cumin, Cecile
Huang, Yen-Lin
Rossdam, Charlotte
Ruoff, Felix
Cespedes, Susana Posada
Liang, Ching-Yeu
Lombardo, Flavio C
Coelho, Ricardo
Rimmer, Natalie
Konantz, Martina
Lopez, Monica Nunez
Alam, Shahidul
Schmidt, Alexander
von Itzstein, Mark
Everest-Dass, Arun
et al.
Griffith University Author(s)
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2022
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Abstract

The molecular repertoire promoting cancer cell plasticity is not fully elucidated. Here, we propose that glycosphingolipids (GSLs), specifically the globo and ganglio series, correlate and promote the transition between epithelial and mesenchymal cells. The epithelial character of ovarian cancer remains stable throughout disease progression, and spatial glycosphingolipidomics reveals elevated globosides in the tumor compartment compared with the ganglioside-rich stroma. CRISPR-Cas9 knockin mediated truncation of endogenous E-cadherin induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and decreases globosides. The transcriptomics analysis identifies the ganglioside-synthesizing enzyme ST8SIA1 to be consistently elevated in mesenchymal-like samples, predicting poor outcome. Subsequent deletion of ST8SIA1 induces epithelial cell features through mTORS2448 phosphorylation, whereas loss of globosides in ΔA4GALT cells, resulting in EMT, is accompanied by increased ERKY202/T204 and AKTS124. The GSL composition dynamics corroborate cancer cell plasticity, and further evidence suggests that mesenchymal cells are maintained through ganglioside-dependent, calcium-mediated mechanisms.

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Cell Reports

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40

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7

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© 2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Oncology and carcinogenesis

Biological sciences

Science & Technology

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Cell Biology

EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION

NEURAL GANGLIOSIDE GD2

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Cumin, C; Huang, Y-L; Rossdam, C; Ruoff, F; Cespedes, SP; Liang, C-Y; Lombardo, FC; Coelho, R; Rimmer, N; Konantz, M; Lopez, MN; Alam, S; Schmidt, A; von Itzstein, M; Everest-Dass, A; et al., Glycosphingolipids are mediators of cancer plasticity through independent signaling pathways, Cell Reports, 2022, 40 (7), pp. 111181

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