The role and potential mechanism of O-Glycosylation in gastrointestinal tumors

Glycosylation is a critical post-translational modification (PTM) that affects the function of proteins and regulates cell signaling, thereby regulating various biological processes. Protein oxygen-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) glycosylation modifications are glycochemical modifications that occur within cells in the signal transduction and are frequently found in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Due to the rapid and reversible addition and removal, O-GlcNAc modifications are able to reversibly compete with certain phosphorylation modifications, immediately regulate the activity of proteins, and participate in kinds of cellular metabolic and signal transduction pathways, playing a pivotal role in the regulation of tumors, diabetes, and other diseases. This article provided a brief overview of O-GlcNAc glycosylation modification, introduced its role in altering the progression and immune response regulation of gastrointestinal tumors, and discussed its potential use as a marker of tumor neogenesis. •Glycosylation is a critical post-translational modification (PTM) that affects the function of proteins and regulates cell signaling, thereby regulating various biological processes.•O-GlcNAc glycosylation is one of the main types of modifications. O-GlcNAc glycosylation is able to reversibly compete with certain phosphorylation modifications, immediately regulate the activity of proteins, and participate in kinds of cellular metabolic and signal transduction pathways, playing a pivotal role in the regulation of tumors.•O-GlcNAc glycosylation modification plays a crucial role in gastrointestinal tumors. Targeting O-GlcNAc modification is a potential novel strategy for the treatment of cancers.•Some traditional Chinese medicines have shown a great potential in the drug development for tumors and can be used as a novel candidate drug based on the the anti-tumor activity of O-GlcNAcylation.