Immunohistochemical Study of O-GlcNAcylation in Human Skin Tumors

O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine modification is an important post-translational modification, emerging as a novel regulatory mechanism in various cellular events. Recently, several studies have shown that O-GlcNAcylation plays an essential role in human breast, lung, and colon cancers. With regard to skin cancers, the role of O-GlcNAcylation has yet to be elucidated. To investigate whether O-GlcNAcylation is linked to human skin tumor development, immunohistochemical analysis was performed to investigate the presence of OGlcNAcylation in various skin tumors. We evaluated the levels of O-GlcNAcylation, O-GlcNAc transferase, and O-GlcNAcase in 29 benign tumors, 12 premalignant tumors, and 26 malignant tumors in skin. Compared to the benign tumors, premalignant and malignant tumors had increased patterns of O-GlcNAcylation. In addition, the O-GlcNAc transferase and O-GlcNAcase levels were higher in premalignant and malignant tumors than in benign tumors. Interestingly, O-GlcNAcase levels were significantly increased in premalignant tumors compared to benign and malignant tumors. These results suggest that O-GlcNAcylation of proteins may play an important role in the development of human skin tumors.