Marine Lectins and Lectin-like Proteins as Promising Molecules Targeting Aberrant Glycosylation Signatures in Human Brain Tumors

Abstract

Glycosylation is a ubiquitous and the most structurally diverse post-translational modification of proteins. High levels of phenotypic heterogeneity in brain tumors affect the biosynthetic pathway of glycosylation machinery, resulting in aberrant glycosylation patterns. Traditionally, unique glycocode readers, carbohydrate-binding proteins, have been used to identify differentially expressed carbohydrate determinants associated with the tumor cell surface. However, identifying novel distinctive glycosylation signatures in brain tumors requires the timely development of molecular tools capable of targeting them. We classified marine-derived lectins and lectin-like molecules according to their ability to cover aberrant glycosylation patterns in brain tumors to encourage exploration of the potential of these molecules for precision diagnostics and personalized therapy.