The glycan profile of cells comprises a high variety of sugar moieties that are attached to proteins (glycoproteins) and lipids (glycolipids) via a process called ‘glycosylation’. Cancer cells commonly carry aberrant glycans, which may be of interest for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, as well as the development of novel therapeutic strategies. This review focuses on the differential glycosylation patterns on malignant B cells, including both B cell lymphoma and leukemia. Well-known aberrant glycan profiles on malignant B cells include acquired high mannose N-glycans in the B cell receptor (BCR) of follicular lymphoma (FL), and increased expression of the glycosphingolipid Gb3/CD77 on Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL). These structures can be exploited for therapy by using lectins that specifically recognize these patterns with intrinsic cytotoxic activity or in a drug-conjugate format. Furthermore, immunotherapy can be improved by modulating glycans, especially sialic acids. Targeting glycans for immunotherapy is also of interest for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, a relatively novel therapy that has been quite effective in various B cell malignancies. Thus, the glycan profile of malignant B cells harbors many opportunities for therapeutic targeting. It is anticipated that further in-depth glycan profiling will open up many more opportunities for the treatment of B cell malignancies.
细胞的糖谱包含多种糖基，这些糖基通过称为“糖基化”的过程附着于蛋白质（糖蛋白）和脂质（糖脂）。癌细胞通常携带异常糖基，这可能对癌症的诊断、预后以及新型治疗策略的开发具有重要意义。本综述聚焦于恶性B细胞（包括B细胞淋巴瘤和白血病）的差异糖基化模式。恶性B细胞中已知的异常糖谱包括滤泡性淋巴瘤（FL）B细胞受体（BCR）中获取的高甘露糖N-聚糖，以及伯基特淋巴瘤（BL）中糖鞘脂Gb3/CD77表达的增加。这些结构可通过使用特异性识别这些模式并具有内在细胞毒性活性或药物偶联形式的凝集素来用于治疗。此外，通过调节糖基（尤其是唾液酸）可以改善免疫疗法。针对糖基的免疫疗法对于嵌合抗原受体（CAR）T细胞疗法也具有重要意义，这是一种相对较新的疗法，已在多种B细胞恶性肿瘤中显示出显著疗效。因此，恶性B细胞的糖谱为治疗靶向提供了许多机会。预计进一步的深入糖谱分析将为B细胞恶性肿瘤的治疗开辟更多机遇。
Finding the Sweet Spot for the Treatment of B Cell Malignancies
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家