Qualitative and quantitative alterations of cell surface carbohydrate residues during epidermal morphogenesis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the carbohydrate residue composition of cell surface in the developing epidermis and to define the chronological sequence of its alterations in human fetuses from the 10th to the 20th weeks of gestation and at the 23rd week of gestation, using a panel of six biotinylated lectins: Concanavalin A, Ulex europaeus agglutinin-I, Ricinus communis agglutinin-I, Peanut agglutinin, Wheat germ agglutinin, and Dolichos biflorus agglutinin. Distinct qualitative and quantitative alterations in the expression of cell surface carbohydrate residues were found during epidermal morphogenesis prior to keratinization (10th to 20th weeks). At the 23rd week of gestation, the already keratinized fetal human epidermis revealed a pattern of cell surface glycosylation very similar to that of the adult human epidermis. Further studies are now warranted to answer the question regarding whether the glycosylation pattern in the developing human epidermis is disturbed in fetuses with genodermatoses and whether these disturbances might be important for prenatally diagnosing the latter.

Embryotoxic activity and differential binding of plant-derived carbohydrate-recognizing proteins towards the sea urchin embryo cells

“…Alternatively, they could be assayed as probes to detect glycosilation pattern of cells in specific situations. A very recent report shows the usefulness of lectins in characterization of changes in cell surface glycoconjugates similar to those we report here [36]. Together both studies stress the potential of lectins in glycobiology.…”

Wheat Germ Agglutinin Modified Liposomes for the Photodynamic Inactivation of Bacteria†

“…By now the limited publications about WGA modified liposomes for bacteria‐targeting mainly aimed at biofilms of bacteria or fungi, increasing the adsorption of liposomes to biofilms and enhancing the encapsulated antibiotics (31,32), suggesting that the temoporfin‐loaded WGA‐liposomes has potential to improve the PDI of biofilms in infections. The application of WGA modified liposomes to skin infections has not been reported, but might be limited due to the fact that WGA also binds to certain layers of skin epidermis (52). Hence, further in vivo experiments are still required to test these applications in depth.…”

Carbohydrate recognition by boronolectins, small molecules, and lectins

“…Carbohydrates are known to be involved in a wide range of biological and pathological processes,1–8 including cancer metastasis, cell adhesion, cell signaling, embryo development, egg fertilization, protein function regulation, cellular communications, and so on 4,7–14. For example, sialyl Lewis X (sLe x ) is known to mediate the metastasis of B16 melanoma cancer;15 carbohydrate ligand binding to E-selectin mediates the extravasation of cancer cells and organ selectivity of metastasis;16 sialyl Lewis a (sLe a ) binding to selectin is involved in the extravasation of human colorectal carcinoma cells;17 endothelial cell adhesion, often mediated by carbohydrate-selectin binding, is correlated with cancer progression;18 and sLe a expression on cancer cells is correlated with increased risk of distant hematogenous metastasis,19 presumably a result of carbohydrate-mediated metastasis.…”