(364) Investigating Glycosylation Inhibition in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: A Literature Review

Objective : To identify clinical databases that can be utilized to explore the potential of glycosylation inhibitors in developing novel strategies for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted to determine the impact of various glycosylation inhibitors on CML. A systematic search and screening for pertinent articles from the PubMed database (1946-February 29, 2024), utilizing keywords such as 'CML,' 'Glycosylation,' and 'Inhibitors' with the Boolean operator 'AND,' resulted in the identification of 21 articles related to the subject matter. The review focused on articles exploring the use of glycosylation inhibitor drugs in the treatment of CML. Specifically, the articles that investigated O-glycosylation as a potential obstacle to drug delivery and those that inhibited its expression were given priority. Moreover, the relevance of articles involving the CML-specific cell line K562 was also considered for further review. Notably, supplemental research on Google Scholar expanded the scope, discovering additional articles using the search terms ‘chronic myeloid leukemia’ and ‘glycosylation inhibitors.’

Results: Following literature findings, in CML cell line, K562, imatinib suppressed O-glycan expression and related glycosyltransferases normalizing O-glycosylation. Tunicamycin inhibited N-glycosylation by blocking saccharide transfer, while Swainsonine targeted alpha-mannosidase. Cell-penetrating peptides GO-201 and GO-203 exhibited diverse effects, inhibiting MUC1-C oligomerization, downregulating BCR-ABL, and suppressing cell growth.

Conclusions: Imatinib, particularly, stands out as a promising candidate, demonstrating efficacy in suppressing O-glycan expression. Its potential makes it a compelling consideration for developing novel therapeutic strategies in CML.