Fig. 1.

O-glycans premature truncation affects cellular dynamics and alters gastric cancer cells morphology. Gastric cancer cell lines were genetically manipulated targeting COSMC gene. a) Mutations on COSMC gene lead to an interruption on the elongation of O-glycans and an increased expression of the precursor structure Tn and its sialylated glycoform, STn. b-e) Actin (red) and STn (green) (top) or actin (red) and tubulin (green) (bottom) immunolocalization were assessed in MKN45 and AGS SimpleCell lines (MKN45 SC and AGS SC) and wild-type controls (MKN45 WT and AGS WT). STn labeling was exclusively observed in MKN45 SC and AGS SC. STn induced expression by COSMC knock-out led to marked changes in the gastric cancer cell morphology, independently of the ECM component used to grow the cells, polymer surface (b), collagen IV (c), fibronectin (d) and poly-d-lysine (e). Both glycoengineered MKN45 SC and AGS SC exhibited a more elongated cell shape, displaying more cytoskeletal actin and tubulin projections, which also stained positive for STn antigen. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)