Gene expression of SKOV3 cells after no treatment or treatment with 50 microM peracetylated GlcNAc or peracetylated 4-deoxy-GlcNAc for three days

Heparan sulfate (HS), a long linear polysaccharide, is implicated in various steps of tumorigenesis, including angiogenesis. We successfully interfered with HS biosynthesis using a peracetylated 4-deoxy analog of the HS constituent GlcNAc and studied the compounds metabolic fate and its effect on angiogenesis. The 4-deoxy analog was activated intracellularly into UDP-4-deoxy-GlcNAc and HS expression was inhibited up to ~96% (IC50 = 16 M). HS chain size was reduced, without detectable incorporation of the 4-deoxy analog, likely due to reduced levels of UDP-GlcNAc and/or inhibition of glycosyltransferase activity. Comprehensive gene expression analysis revealed reduced expression of genes regulated by HS binding growth factors as FGF-2 and VEGF. Cellular binding and signaling of these angiogenic factors was inhibited. Micro-injection in zebrafish embryos strongly reduced HS biosynthesis, and angiogenesis was inhibited in both zebrafish and chicken model systems. All these data identify 4-deoxy-GlcNAc as a potent inhibitor of HS synthesis which hampers pro-angiogenic signaling and neo-vessel formation.

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van Wijk XM, Thijssen VL, Lawrence R, van den Broek SA, Dona M, Naidu N, Oosterhof A, van de Westerlo EM, Kusters LJ, Khaled Y, Jokela TA, Nowak-Sliwinska P, Kremer H, Stringer SE, Griffioen AW, van Wijk E, van Delft FL, van Kuppevelt TH