A group from Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, KY, USA, etc. has reported that a lectin-Fc fusion protein (i.e., lectibody) recognizing cancer specific high mannose glycans would be a useful drug in cancer therapy.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pbi.13902
Avaren-Fc (AvFc) is a lectin-Fc fusion protein (i.e., lectibody) produced in Nicotiana benthamiana, which selectively recognizes cancer-associated high-mannose glycans. A glycovariant of AvFc (AvFcΔXF) was developed by eliminating plant glycans, including the coreα1,3-fucoseand β1,2-xylose residues. The successful removal of these glycans was confirmed by glycan analysis using HPLC.
This study has demonstrated that AvFcΔXF induces more a potent ADCC response in vitro and delays the growth of murine B16F10 melanoma in both a flank tumor model as well as a model of metastasisin vivo, suggesting that high mannose glycans may be a useful druggable biomarker in cancer therapy.
where, AvFcΔlec means a variant lacking sugar-binding activity