Utilization of overexpressed sialic acids as a selective target for the neuroblastoma cancer therapy

Sialic acids are acidic 9 carbon sugar molecules (glycans), which occupy the terminal position of the O- and N- glycan chains of glycoproteins as well as glycolipids. They are added exclusively by linkage specific sialyltransferases, and further modified by a variety of chemical groups. Sialic acids are also linked to each other via µ2,8 linkage, forming unique sialic acid chains referred as polysialic acid. They serve as important regulators for the fundamental biological processes under physiological and pathological conditions, such as cellular interaction, cell migration and localization. The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is the major carrier for the polysialic acids. Neuroblastoma tumor exhibits elevated expression of NCAM and the associated polysialic acid. NCAM has been upregulated and functionally integrated in the neuronal and epithelial cancer.