A high expression of the enzyme beta1,4-galactosyltransferase-3, or B4GALT3 is associated with noticeably shortened survival rates in several types of immunotherapy cancersdeficiency in mice TIME inhibits tumor growth. The study shows that a significant reduction of glycosylation — a type of protein modification — on T cell surfaces correlates with increases in CD8+ immune cells infiltrating tumors. Weakly immunogenic and strongly immunogenic tumor cells were subcutaneously transplanted into B4GALT3 knockout and wild-type mice, to examine for tumor cell growth. Only the knockout mice suppressed the growth of strongly immunogenic tumor cells.
