A2B5 antigen (c-series gangliosides) (A2B5)

A2B5 is a cell surface antigen primarily composed of c-series gangliosides, specifically trisialoganglioside GT3 and its 9-O-acetylated derivative [3, 5]. It serves as a critical marker for immature neural and glial cells, including oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and neural stem cells (NSCs), playing a vital role in cell-cell recognition and signal transduction during neural development [9, 13]. In oncology, A2B5 is highly expressed on cancer stem cells (CSCs) within glioblastomas and other gliomas, where its presence is associated with increased tumor invasiveness, proliferation, and resistance to standard therapies [15, 25]. Due to its high prevalence in aggressive brain tumors and relatively restricted expression in the adult central nervous system, A2B5 has emerged as a promising therapeutic target for glioblastoma [9, 29]. Current therapeutic approaches under investigation include A2B5-targeted CAR-T cells and dendritic cell vaccines loaded with A2B5-positive tumor lysates [23, 27]. However, the clinical application of A2B5-targeted therapies faces challenges such as potential off-target effects in other A2B5-expressing tissues like the retina and pancreatic islets, as well as the inherent heterogeneity of ganglioside expression within the tumor microenvironment [1, 12].

Other names

c-series gangliosidesGT3 ganglioside9-O-acetylated GT3A2B5 markerO-2A progenitor markerTrisialoganglioside GT3

Targeted cell lysis via chimeric antigen receptor T-cells; immune system activation via dendritic cell vaccination; enzymatic cleavage of the sialic acid epitope by neuraminidase.