Sweet Strategies in Prostate Cancer Biomarker Research: Focus
on a Prostate Specific Antigen
Pavel Damborský
1
&
Dominika Damborská
1
&
Štefan Belický
1
&
Ján Tkáč
1
&
Jaroslav Katrlík
1
#
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017
Abstract A clarion call for early diagnosis of prostate cancer
(PCa) can be addressed using new strategies such as aberrant
protein glycosylation. Proteins are naturally affected by nu-
merous post-translational modifications, mainly by glycosyl-
ation which is associated with physiological and pathological
transformation participating in the development of diseases
such as various types of cancer, but also neurodegenerative
disorders, endocrine abnormalities, AIDS, etc. Therefore, gly-
coproteins play crucial role in cancer biomarker research and
determination of glycosylation is nowadays one of the key
analytical tasks. Predominantly used approach based on affin-
ity assays using lectins as glycorecognition elements has be-
come an essential part in the biomedical research with great
prospects in the clinical diagnostics. Owing to their ability to
specifically recognize saccharide structures, lectins can be ap-
plied for binding to different molecules and substrates such as
proteins, lipids, cell walls as well as in biological materials,
including stem cells and microorganisms. In order to improve
the diagnostic potential of well-known cancer biomarkers,
lectin-based biosensors and biochips are already being widely
used for the detection of glycoproteins. In this review, we will
focus on various bioassay strategies for glycoprofiling of a
prostate-specific antigen (PSA) with emphasis to modern
and prospective techniques suitable for analysis of PSA gly-
can motifs as biosensors, biochips and mass spectrometry
methods. All mentioned methods are suitable for applications
in research, diagnosis and therapy of PCa.
Keywords Prostate cancer (PCa)
.
Prostate-specific antigen
(PSA)
.
Glycosylation
.
Biomarkers
.
Lectin
.
Biosensor
1 Introduction
PCa is one of the most common malignancies among men
globally, and the second leading cause of cancer death in
men in most regions of the world. From a biological view-
point, the prostate is a walnut-shaped, soft gland with the
urethra running directly through it, surrounded by the rectum
posteriorly and the bladder superiorly (Fig. 1)[1]. The phys-
iological function of the prostate is to act as a secretory gland
involved in ejaculation. The prostate structure is composed of
branching glands, with ducts that are lined particularly with
secretory epithelial cells. These epithelial cells represent the
major cell type in the prostatic gland are androgen-dependent
for growth and produce secretory proteins such as a prostate-
specific antigen (PSA) and a prostatic acid phosphatase to the
seminal fluid. Both the development of the prostate gland and
maintenance of these secretory functions are dependent upon
signals from the androgen receptor.
Since androgens regulate the prostate gland as the major
stimulus for cell division in a prostatic epithelium, they are
regarded as major contributors to prostatic carcinogenesis be-
ing classified as adenocarcinoma [2]. Additionally, most pros-
tate tumours (95%) are adenocarcinomas originating from
prostatic epithelial cells and share numerous common features
with other prevalent epithelial cancers, such as breast and
colon cancer. PCa occurs when the rate of cell proliferation
surpasses cell death, resulting in uncontrollable tumour
growth. Besides, the cells can metastasize through the lym-
phatic system and the bloodstream. When the cells are settled
down in a new location, the tumour cells start to grow as
* Jaroslav Katrlík
Jaroslav.Katrlik@savba.sk
1
Department of Glycobiotechnology, Institute of Chemistry, Slovak
Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 38,
Bratislava, Slovakia
DOI 10.1007/s12668-017-0397-z
BioNanoSci. (2018) 8:6
–790 00
Published online: February 201723
@Phil_Robichaud
@deepthiw
@JoseServera