New publication from the GlioME Team (INP team 8) in Cancers pointing at A2B5 as an attractive therapeutic target for glioblastomas.

We obtained results showing the crucial role of the A2B5 epitope in the promotion of proliferation, migration, clonogenicity, and tumorigenesis of glioblastoma cells, indicating that the glycolipids recognized by the A2B5 antibody are attractive targets for glioblastoma therapy.

The "A2B5 story" has begun 13 years ago, when we demonstrated the presence of glial precursor cells expressing c-series gangliosides recognized by the A2B5 monoclonal antibody, in various glioma subtypes. Some years later, we showed that only A2B5+ cells isolated from glioblastomas samples had the potential to develop tumors after orthotopic injection in nude mice. Today, we succeeded in manipulating A2B5 synthesis by developing cell lines expressing various levels of A2B5 either by genetic manipulation of ST8SIA3 (the ST8 alpha-N-acetyl-neuraminidase alpha-2,8-sialyltransferase 3 enzyme producing A2B5) or by using neuraminidase (a sialidase cleaving the sialic acid residues in alpha-2,8 to down-regulate A2B5 immunoreactivity).

Our "A2B5 story" is to be continued!...