Inflammation and cancer metastasis are associated with extravasation of leukocytes or tumor cells from blood into tissue. Such movement is believed to follow a coordinated and sequential molecular cascade initiated, in part, by the three members of the selectin family of carbohydrate-binding proteins: E-selectin (CD62E), L-selectin (CD62L) and P-selectin (CD62P). E-selectin is particularly noteworthy in disease by virtue of its expression on activated endothelium and on bone-skin microvascular linings and for its role in cell rolling, cell signaling and chemotaxis. E-selectin, along with L-or P-selectin, mediates cell tethering and rolling interactions through the recognition of sialofucosylated Lewis carbohydrates expressed on structurally diverse protein-lipid ligands on circulating leukocytes or tumor cells. Major advances in understanding the role of E-selectin in inflammation and cancer have been advanced by experiments assaying E-selectin-mediated rolling of leukocytes and tumor cells under hydrodynamic shear flow, by clinical models of E-selectindependent inflammation, by mice deficient in E-selectin and by mice deficient in glycosyltransferases that regulate the binding activity of E-selectin ligands. Here, the authors elaborate on how E-selectin and its ligands may facilitate leukocyte or tumor cell recruitment in inflammatory and metastatic settings. Antagonists that target cellular interactions with E-selectin and other members of the selectin family, including neutralizing monoclonal antibodies, competitive ligand inhibitors or metabolic carbohydrate mimetics, exemplify a growing arsenal of potentially effective therapeutics in controlling inflammation and the metastatic behavior of cancer.

Prostate tumor cells, which characteristically metastasize to bone, initiate binding interactions with bone marrow endothelium under blood flow conditions through binding interactions with E-selectin. We hypothesized that E-selectin ligands on prostate tumor cells are directly associated with bone-metastatic potential. In this report, we elucidate the identity of E-selectin ligands on human metastatic prostate tumor cells and examine their association with prostate tumor progression and metastasis in vivo. To our surprise, we found that the E-selectin-binding form of P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) is expressed on the human bone-metastatic prostate tumor MDA PCa 2b cell line. Interestingly, we also found that human prostate tumor cells derived from bone, lymph node, and brain metastases expressed another leukocyte E-selectin ligand, E-selectin ligand-1 (ESL-1). Immunohistochemical analysis of PSGL-1 and ESL-1 in normal prostate tissue and in localized and metastatic prostate tumors revealed that ESL-1 was principally localized to intracellular cell membrane and expressed on all normal and malignant prostate tissue, whereas PSGL-1 was notably detected on the surfaces of bone-metastatic prostate tumor cells. These findings implicate a functional role of PSGL-1 in the bone tropism of prostate tumor cells and establish a new perspective into the molecular mechanism of human prostate tumor metastasis. (Cancer Res 2005; 65(13): 5750-60)

Expression of E- and P-selectin ligands is required for T cell entry into skin. Sialyl Lewis X moieties are critical for ligand activity and are elevated on malignant skin-homing T cells. We hypothesize that these glycosylations are selectable targets for treating the dermal tropism associated with cutaneous lymphomas. In this study, we analyzed the efficacy of a novel 4-fluorinated analog of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) on E- and P-selectin ligands expressed by malignant skin-homing T cells. We also examined the specificity of 4-F-GlcNAc (2-acetamido-1,3,6-tri-O-acetyl-4-deoxy-4-fluoro-D-glucopyranose) action by contrasting the effects on sialyl Lewis X expression displayed by P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) with sialylated O-glycans expressed by CD43. Using parallel-plate flow analysis, we found that 4-F-GlcNAc elicited 5-fold more potent inhibition on P-selectin ligand activity than on E-selectin ligand activity. To determine whether glycosylations conferring E- and P-selectin ligand activities were inhibited, we analyzed the expression of sialyl Lewis X and sialyl-fucosylated core 2 O-glycan (CHO-131 antigen), respectively. We found that 4-F-GlcNAc treatment resulted in dose-dependent ablation of sialyl Lewis X and CHO-131 antigen expression on PSGL-1, whereas sialylated O-glycans on CD43 were minimally affected. These results indicate that 4-F-GlcNAc treatment can selectively downregulate the P-selectin ligand activity and potentially prevent dermal dissemination of cutaneous lymphomas.

T cell recruitment into inflamed skin is dependent on skin-homing receptor binding to endothelial (E)- and platelet (P)-selectin. These T cell receptors, or E- and P-selectin ligands, can be targeted by the metabolic fluorosugar inhibitor, 4-F-GlcNAc, to blunt cutaneous inflammation. Compelling new data indicate that, in addition to T cells, NK cells are also recruited to inflamed skin in allergic contact hypersensitivity (CHS) contingent on E- and P-selectin-binding. Using a model of allergic CHS, we evaluated the identity and impact of NK cell E-selectin ligand(s) on inflammatory responses and examined the oral efficacy of 4-F-GlcNAc. We demonstrated that the predominant E-selectin ligands on NK cells are P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 and protease-resistant glycolipids. We showed that, unlike the induced E-selectin ligand expression on activated T cells upon exposure to Ag, ligand expression on NK cells was constitutive. CHS responses were significantly lowered by orally administered 4-F-GlcNAc treatment. Although E-selectin ligand on activated T cells was suppressed, ligand expression on NK cells was insensitive to 4-F-GlcNAc treatment. These findings indicate that downregulating effector T cell E- and P-selectin ligand expression directly correlates with anti-inflammatory efficacy and provides new insight on metabolic discrepancies of E-selectin ligand biosynthesis in effector leukocytes in vivo.

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