간세포암 진단을 위한 혈청 내 AFP 농도에 따른 Core-Fucosylated N-글리칸 정량 분석

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a high-risk carcinoma with a high mortality and morbidity rate worldwide. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a reliable diagnostic technology to increase the survival rate of patients through early diagnosis of HCC. Serum AFP (α-fetoprotein) level has been used as a conventional biomarker of HCC. However, the increase of AFP level has been associated with the low diagnosis rate of HCC due to its relation with other diseases as well. Therefore, this study analyzed total serum N-glycans with high and low AFP levels by MALDI-TOF-MS and UPLC-FLR. The results demonstrated that the total serum core-fucosylation shows high relevance to the serum AFP level. Regression analysis also revealed that the 1dHex 4Hex 4HexNAc structure is highly correlated with the total serum core-fucosylation. In addition, in order to verify the correlation between the core-fucosylated N-glycans and AFP levels, we observed the total serum core-fucosylation more accurately and intuitively by exo-glycosidase digestion. Consequently, this study suggests that the levels of core-fucosylation and 1dHex 4Hex 4HexNAc structure in total serum may provide more accurate diagnostic information with serum AFP levels in early diagnosis of HCC.