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Mucins are high molecular weight glycoproteins that are heavily glycosylated with many oligosaccharide side chains linked to the protein backbone. In gastrointestinal cancers, many of the phenotypic markers for pre-malignant and malignant cells have been found on the carbohydrate and peptide moieties of mucin glycoproteins. The expression of carbohydrate antigens is due to modification of peripheral carbohydrate structures, extension of the backbone structures and the exposure of inner core region carbohydrates. The exposure of peptide bone structures of mucin glycoproteins also occurs due to abnormal glycosylation during biosynthesis. The expression of some of the sialylated carbohydrate antigens appears to correlate with poor prognosis and increased metastatic potential in colorectal cancer. At present, the role of mucin glycoproteins in various stages of colon carcinogenesis (including the pre-neoplastic state and metastasis), in cancer diagnosis and immunotherapy is under investigation.
Young S. Kim (Thu,) studied this question.