Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Glycopeptide Library Decodes Sialylation‐Dependent Immunodominance to Enable a Potent Multicomponent Antitumor Vaccine

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Authors: Ye Wu, Wenjing Ma, Yinyu Jiang, Xiaoyu Li, Yi Ling, Yajing Guo, Yang Zhou, Bingyuan Liu, Hongxia Huang, Sheng Chiong Hong, Feiqing Ding, Hui Liang
+5 more Zhu Wang, Yiliang Li, Zhuojia Xu, Hui Cai, Tiehai Li
Cited by: 1
References: 65

Abstract

Aberrant sialylation is a hallmark of tumor glycosylation that promotes malignant progression and immune evasion. While sialylated carbohydrates represent attractive targets for anticancer vaccines, structural and antigenic insights into glycopeptides are still hampered by limited access to well-defined structures, rendering their immunogenicity unclear. Herein, we describe an efficient chemoenzymatic platform for facile synthesis of a glycopeptide library comprising 18 structures with diverse O-glycans at different glycosylation sites. Glycopeptide microarray-based serological screening revealed a consistent preference of cancer patient sera for sialylated glycopeptides over their non-sialylated counterparts. Motivated by this finding, we performed systematic immunological evaluations of sialylated and non-sialylated glycopeptide-tetanus toxoid (TT) conjugates, demonstrating that sialylated glycopeptide-TT conjugates elicit stronger antibody responses, enhanced tumor cell recognition, and more potent tumor growth inhibition through synergistic activation of antigen-presenting cells and T cell subsets. Furthermore, we developed a multicomponent cocktail vaccine by incorporating four sialylated glycopeptides, which elicited broader and more potent immune activation than single-antigen formulations. Antisera from the cocktail vaccine exhibited strong binding to human tumor tissues, underscoring the clinical relevance of our findings. This work establishes sialylation as a key determinant of glycopeptide immunogenicity and provides a rational strategy for developing next-generation glycopeptide-based cancer vaccines.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Carbohydrate Chemistry and Synthesis Glycosylation and Glycoproteins Research Click Chemistry and Applications

Publication details

Journal / source
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
65
Issue
9
Pages
e25026–e25026
Publication date
19 January 2026
Language
EN