Increased N-glycosylation of Asn(88) in serum pancreatic ribonuclease 1 is a novel diagnostic marker for pancreatic cancer

Alterations of carbohydrate structures in cancer cells are the most promising targets for developing clinical diagnostic reagents. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose because it lacks definitive symptoms. Two antibodies were raised against human pancreatic ribonuclease 1 that bind to the enzyme containing unglycosylated Asn(88), but not when its Asn(88) is N-glycosylated. Differential studies using these antibodies in immunoassays and Western blot analyses showed a significant increase in the serum levels of pancreatic ribonuclease 1 containing N-glycosylated Asn(88) in pancreatic cancer patients compared with normal human subjects. Focusing on the increase in an N-glycosylated Asn residue of serum pancreatic ribonuclease 1, specifically Asn(88), affords a new diagnostic marker for pancreatic cancer. This is the first report of a diagnostic cancer marker that takes advantage of the presence or absence of N-glycosylation at a specific Asn residue of a glycoprotein.