TY - JOUR AU - St Hill, Catherine A. AU - Farooqui, Mariya AU - Mitcheltree, Gregory AU - Gulbahce, H. Evin AU - Jessurun, Jose AU - Cao, Qing AU - Walcheck, Bruce PY - 2009 DA - 2009/03/06 TI - The high affinity selectin glycan ligand C2-O-sLex and mRNA transcripts of the core 2 β-1,6-N-acetylglusaminyltransferase (C2GnT1) gene are highly expressed in human colorectal adenocarcinomas JO - BMC Cancer SP - 79 VL - 9 IS - 1 AB - The metastasis of cancer cells and leukocyte extravasation into inflamed tissues share common features. Specialized carbohydrates modified with sialyl Lewis x (sLex) antigens on leukocyte membranes are ligands for selectin adhesion molecules on activated vascular endothelial cells at inflammatory sites. The activity of the enzyme core 2 β1,6 N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (C2GnT1) in leukocytes greatly increases their ability to bind to endothelial selectins. C2GnT1 is essential for the synthesis of core 2-branched O-linked carbohydrates terminated with sLex (C2-O-sLex). Our goal was to determine the expression profiles of C2-O-sLex in the malignant progression and metastasis of colorectal adenocarcinomas. The well characterized CHO-131 monoclonal antibody (mAb) specifically recognizes C2-O-sLex present in human leukocytes and carcinoma cells. Using CHO-131 mAb, we investigated whether C2-O-sLex was present in 113 human primary colorectal adenocarcinomas, 10 colorectal adenomas, 46 metastatic liver tumors, 28 normal colorectal tissues, and 5 normal liver tissues by immunohistochemistry. We also examined mRNA levels of the enzyme core 2 β1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (C2GnT1) in 20 well, 15 moderately, and 2 poorly differentiated colorectal adenocarcinomas, and in 5 normal colorectal tissues by using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR). SN - 1471-2407 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2407-9-79 DO - 10.1186/1471-2407-9-79 ID - St Hill2009 ER -