In a recent study published in Histochemistry and Cell Biology, we explored a possible new treatment modality for bladder cancer. Bladder cancer can be treated with intravesical application of therapeutics by direct introduction through the urethra with a catheter into the bladder. Cancer urothelial cells have specific sugar components on the plasma membrane and higher endocytotic activity. Thus therapeutics could be endocytosed via specific sugar components into cancer cells, but not into normal ones. However, the mechanism of endocytosis of therapeutics by cancer urothelial cells is not known. To further investigate this, we used both in vitro cancer urothelial cell lines and ex vivo human biopsy samples of bladder tumors and examined the endocytosis of three different lectins, which are sugar binding glycoproteins. Our findings revealed that macropinocytosis is the primary method by which lectins are endocytosed by cancer urothelial cells, revealed with light and electron microscopy. Remarkably, normal urothelial cells did not endocytose the lectins used in our study. This suggests that lectins conjugated with therapeutic agents may be a useful tool to target cancerous urothelial cells and improve the intravesical treatment of bladder cancer in the future. Read more here
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