{
  "id": 10406845,
  "title": "ST6Gal2 promotes α2,6-sialylation and aggressive phenotypes in neuroblastoma cells",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/st6gal2-promotes-2-6-sialylation-and-aggressive-phenotypes-in",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-28T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.24.754123v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Neuroblastoma, a common solid tumor in childhood, can range from spontaneous regression to lethal, treatment-resistant disease. Researchers have found that abnormal 2,6-sialylation, a process involving the addition of sialic acid to glycoproteins, contributes to aggressive features in many cancers. However, the role of ST6Gal2, a neural-enriched 2,6-sialyltransferase, in neuroblastoma has not been extensively studied. To investigate this, a team examined two large public cohorts containing 1,147 patients. They discovered that high ST6GAL2 expression was linked to significantly poorer overall and event-free survival in both cohorts. Moreover, ST6GAL2 expression was elevated in high-risk and MYCN-amplified tumors, varied across different International Neuroblastoma Staging System stages, and correlated positively with a mesenchymal transcriptional signature. This correlation was consistent across both cohorts. The team also found that stable shRNA-mediated knockdown of ST6GAL2 in SK-N-AS and SK-N-BE(2) cells reduced cell proliferation and viability, impaired wound closure, and decreased migration and invasion. Preliminary experiments in SK-N-AS cells suggested that ST6GAL2 knockdown reduced binding of Sambucus nigra agglutinin, indicating a role for ST6Gal2 in 2,6-sialylation. The findings suggest that ST6Gal2 expression is associated with aggressive clinical and transcriptional features and pro-tumorigenic phenotypes in neuroblastoma, making ST6Gal2-mediated sialylation a potential candidate pathway for further investigation.",
  "summary": "Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor of childhood. Its clinical behavior ranges from spontaneous regression to lethal, treatment-refractory disease. Aberrant 2,6-sialylation contributes to aggressive phenotypes in many cancers, but the role of ST6Gal2, a neural-enriched 2,6-sialyltransferase, in neuroblastoma is largely unexplored. Here, we examine the clinical and functional…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}