Mucins as Potential Biomarkers for Early Detection of Cancer

Abstract

Early detection significantly correlates with improved survival in cancer patients. So far, a limited number of biomarkers have been validated to diagnose cancers at an early stage. Considering the leading cancer types that contribute to more than 50% of deaths in the USA, we discuss the ongoing endeavors toward early detection of lung, breast, ovarian, colon, prostate, liver, and pancreatic cancers to highlight the significance of mucin glycoproteins in cancer diagnosis. As mucin deregulation is one of the earliest events in most epithelial malignancies following oncogenic transformation, these high-molecular-weight glycoproteins are considered potential candidates for biomarker development. The diagnostic potential of mucins is mainly attributed to their deregulated expression, altered glycosylation, splicing, and ability to induce autoantibodies. Secretory and shed mucins are commonly detected in patients’ sera, body fluids, and tumor biopsies. For instance, CA125, also called MUC16, is one of the biomarkers implemented for the diagnosis of ovarian cancer and is currently being investigated for other malignancies. Similarly, MUC5AC, a secretory mucin, is a potential biomarker for pancreatic cancer. Moreover, anti-mucin autoantibodies and mucin-packaged exosomes have opened new avenues of biomarker development for early cancer diagnosis. In this review, we discuss the diagnostic potential of mucins in epithelial cancers and provide evidence and a rationale for developing a mucin-based biomarker panel for early cancer detection.

2,5-Thiophenedicarboxylic Acid Bridging Hexameric CeIII-Substituted Selenotungstate and Its Application for Detecting Mucin 1

“…Furthermore, the surface elemental compositions of the 1 -PEDOT composite film were also tested by XPS (Figure c). Comparing the XPS survey of 1 and the 1 -PEDOT composite film, we can observe that both the characteristic peaks from 1 (W 4f: 36.1 and 35.0 eV, and Ce 3d: 885.0 and 884.1 eV) and those corresponding to PEDOT (S 2p: 163.5 and 164.6 eV) simultaneously appear in the XPS pattern of the 1 -PEDOT film. − In addition, the SEM images were utilized to characterize and compare the surface morphologies of the PEDOT film and the 1 -PEDOT composite film. As shown in Figure d, the polymerized PEDOT film in the absence of 1 demonstrates a bumpy and rough morphology.…”

“…59−63 Mucins are a family of high-molecular-weight and heavily glycosylated proteins, in which mucin 1 as the most studied mucin has been recognized as one of the most common biomarkers for the early diagnosis of human cancers. 64,65 Moreover, it is found that POMs and PEDOT composite materials have been used in some fields such as solar cells, optoelectronic devices, electrocatalysis, and electrochromism. 66−69 However, POM− PEDOT composite films as substrates for electrochemical sensors are very rare.…”

Colocalization of Cancer Associated Biomarkers on Single Extracellular Vesicles for Early Cancer Detection

“…Bone marrow stromal antigen-2/CD317/Tetherin (BST2), Folate receptor alpha (FOLR1), and Mucin-1 (MUC1) are cell surface proteins previously shown to be overexpressed in ovarian cancer (Gautam et al, 2023; Giampaolino et al, 2020, 2019; Januchowski et al, 2017; Kufe, 2009; Trinidad et al, 2023; Varaganti et al, 2023; Yang et al, 2022). Protein expression of all three biomarkers was demonstrated by western blotting to be present in the EV fractions from human ovarian cancer cell lines (Figure 2) and human plasma (not shown) enriched by size exclusion.…”

Graph Attention Networks for Drug Combination Discovery: Targeting Pancreatic Cancer Genes with RAIN Protocol

“…The probe has shown effectiveness in binding to human pancreatic cancer cell lines in both laboratory settings and living organisms. [81] [82] [83]…”

“…The probe has shown effectiveness in binding to human pancreatic cancer cell lines in both laboratory settings and living organisms. [81] [82] [83] Ribonucleotide reductase catalytic subunit M1 (RRM1) has been identified in datasets associated with gemcitabine. It has been observed that the expression of RRM1 is notably elevated in pancreatic cancer tissue as well as in cells resistant to gemcitabine in both laboratory and living organism settings settings.…”