High expression of B3GALT5 suppresses the galectin-4-mediated peritoneal dissemination of poorly differentiated gastric cancer cells

Peritoneal metastasis frequently accompanies metastatic and/or recurrent gastric cancer, leading to a poor prognosis owing to a lack of effective treatment. Hence, there is a pressing need to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms and molecules driving peritoneal metastasis. In a previous study, galectin-4 inhibition impeded peritoneal metastasis in a murine model. This study examined the glycan profiles of cell surface proteins and glycosphingolipids (GSLs) in cells with varying tumorigenic potentials to understand the intricate mechanisms underlying galectin-4-mediated regulation, particularly glycosylation. Detailed mass spectrometry analysis showed that galectin-4 knockout cells exhibit increased expression of lacto-series GSLs with β1,3-linked galactose while showing no significant alterations in neolacto-series GSLs. We conducted real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis to identify candidate glycosyltransferases that synthesize increased levels of GSLs. Subsequently, we introduced the candidate B3GALT5 gene and selected the clones with high expression levels. B3GALT5 gene-expressing clones showed GSL glycan profiles like those of knockout cells and significantly reduced tumorigenic ability in mouse models. These clones exhibited diminished proliferative capacity and showed reduced expression of galectin-4 and activated AKT. Moreover, co-localization of galectin-4 with flotillin-2 (a raft marker) decreased in B3GALT5-expressing cells, implicating GSLs in galectin-4 localization to lipid rafts. D-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol (a GSL synthase inhibitor) also affected galectin-4 localization in rafts, suggesting the involvement of GSL microdomains. We discovered that B3GALT5 plays a crucial role in regulating peritoneal metastasis of malignant gastric cancer cells by suppressing cell proliferation and modulating lipid rafts and galectin-4 via mechanisms that are yet to be elucidated.