Emerging Star in Cancer Immunotherapy: Sialic Acid Takes the Stage!

As awareness of health grows and medical demands increase, glycomics technology plays a crucial role in disease prevention, diagnosis, personalized medicine, and novel drug development.

Glycomics shows immense potential in researching tumor biomarkers. Altered glycans produced by cells are a hallmark of cancer. Traditional diagnostic methods often focus on the protein portion of glycoproteins, which can lead to poor specificity in cancer detection. Glycomics methods, by detecting glycan changes, offer non-invasive approaches for early cancer diagnosis (acting as a form of in vitro liquid biopsy), providing strong support for improved sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, glycomics research reveals interaction mechanisms between drugs and their targets, offering powerful momentum for new drug discovery.

Sialic Acid (SA) is the collective term for nine-carbon carboxylated sugars, primarily N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc). It is a unique glycan widely present in animal tissues (expressed as Neu5Ac and Neu5Gc). In humans (predominantly Neu5Ac), sialic acid exists mainly in three forms: bound to glycoproteins, bound to glycolipids, and as free sialic acid. As a key component of cell membrane glycoproteins and glycolipids, SA can be recognized by a range of surface proteins on innate immune cells and activated T cells. It possesses diverse physiological functions and plays vital roles in regulating human physiological and biochemical processes, such as anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-tumor effects. Consequently, serum sialic acid levels serve as an important clinical indicator for tumor diagnosis.

Additionally, Siglecs (Sialic acid-binding Immunoglobulin-type Lectins) are a family of receptors that recognize sialoglycans. They are widely expressed on innate and adaptive immune cells and play key roles in immune cell signaling. Thus, the Siglec family is a common marker for malignant immune cells. Within the tumor microenvironment, tumor sialylation helps establish an immunosuppressive milieu and suppresses anti-tumor immune responses by modulating Siglec expression. Consequently, significant research is exploring novel cancer treatments by disrupting the Siglec-sialic acid immune axis.

The interaction between Siglecs and sialic acid is implicated in disease development. Blocking Siglec-sialoglycan binding in cancer can prevent tumor immune evasion. Therefore, the sialoglycan-Siglec interaction represents a promising therapeutic target for multiple diseases.

Amidst the vigorous development of glycomics, and to propel its global advancement, Suyuan Gene is increasing its focus on glycomics technology applications and sustained investment in the life sciences field, continuously enhancing its technical capabilities and innovation.

With the launch and widespread adoption of our glycomics analysis equipment – the Glycome 316 Analyzer (featuring high sensitivity, speed, high throughput, high separation efficiency, low sample consumption, and broad applicability) – we are confident that novel disease treatment strategies and therapeutics will continue to emerge.