Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T12:41:29.156Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Galectins: structure, function and therapeutic potential

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2008

Ri-Yao Yang ,
Gabriel A. Rabinovich  and
Fu-Tong Liu
Ri-Yao Yang
Affiliation:
Department of Dermatology, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA.
Gabriel A. Rabinovich
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Inmunopatología, Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (IBYME), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), C1428ADN-Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fu-Tong Liu*
Affiliation:
Department of Dermatology, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA.
*
* Corresponding author: Fu-Tong Liu, Department of Dermatology, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, 3301 C Street, Suite 1400, Sacramento, CA 95816, USA. Tel: +1 916 734 6377; Fax: +1 916 442 5702; E-mail: fliu@ucdavis.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Galectins are a family of animal lectins that bind β-galactosides. Outside the cell, galectins bind to cell-surface and extracellular matrix glycans and thereby affect a variety of cellular processes. However, galectins are also detectable in the cytosol and nucleus, and may influence cellular functions such as intracellular signalling pathways through protein–protein interactions with other cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins. Current research indicates that galectins play important roles in diverse physiological and pathological processes, including immune and inflammatory responses, tumour development and progression, neural degeneration, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and wound repair. Some of these have been discovered or confirmed by using genetically engineered mice deficient in a particular galectin. Thus, galectins may be a therapeutic target or employed as therapeutic agents for inflammatory diseases, cancers and several other diseases.

Type
Review Article
Information
Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine , Volume 10 , October 2008 , e17
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

1Cooper, D.N. (2002) Galectinomics: finding themes in complexity. Biochim Biophys Acta 1572, 209-231CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Cho, M. and Cummings, R.D. (1997) Galectin-1: oligomeric structure and interactions with polylactosamine. Trends Glycosci Glycotech 9, 47CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3Hirabayashi, J. et al. (2002) Oligosaccharide specificity of galectins: a search by frontal affinity chromatography. Biochim Biophys Acta 1572, 232-254CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Fred Brewer, C. (2002) Binding and cross-linking properties of galectins. Biochim Biophys Acta 1572, 255-262CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Sacchettini, J.C., Baum, L.G. and Brewer, C.F. (2001) Multivalent protein-carbohydrate interactions. A new paradigm for supermolecular assembly and signal transduction. Biochemistry 40, 3009-3015Google ScholarPubMed
6Elola, M.T. et al. (2007) Galectins: matricellular glycan-binding proteins linking cell adhesion, migration, and survival. Cell Mol Life Sci 64, 1679-1700CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Ochieng, J., Furtak, V. and Lukyanov, P. (2004) Extracellular functions of galectin-3. Glycoconj J 19, 527-535CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8Liu, F.T., Patterson, R.J. and Wang, J.L. (2002) Intracellular functions of galectins. Biochim Biophys Acta 1572, 263-273CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Liao, D.I. et al. (1994) Structure of S-lectin, a developmentally regulated vertebrate beta-galactoside-binding protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 91, 1428-1432CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Hsu, D.K. and Liu, F.T. (2004) Regulation of cellular homeostasis by galectins. Glycoconj J 19, 507-515CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11He, J. and Baum, L.G. (2004) Presentation of galectin-1 by extracellular matrix triggers T cell death. J Biol Chem 279, 4705-4712CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Rabinovich, G.A. et al. (2002) Galectins and their ligands: amplifiers, silencers or tuners of the inflammatory response? Trends Immunol 23, 313-320CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13Rubinstein, N. et al. (2004) The role of galectins in the initiation, amplification and resolution of the inflammatory response. Tissue Antigens 64, 1-12CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Seelenmeyer, C. et al. (2005) Cell surface counter receptors are essential components of the unconventional export machinery of galectin-1. J Cell Biol 171, 373-381CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Vyakarnam, A. et al. (1997) Evidence for a role for galectin-1 in pre-mRNA splicing. Mol Cell Biol 17, 4730-4737CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Gauthier, L. et al. (2002) Galectin-1 is a stromal cell ligand of the pre-B cell receptor (BCR) implicated in synapse formation between pre-B and stromal cells and in pre-BCR triggering. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99, 13014-13019CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17Rossi, B. et al. (2006) Clustering of pre-B cell integrins induces galectin-1-dependent pre-B cell receptor relocalization and activation. J Immunol 177, 796-803CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18Yu, X., Siegel, R. and Roeder, R.G. (2006) Interaction of the B cell-specific transcriptional coactivator OCA-B and galectin-1 and a possible role in regulating BCR-mediated B cell proliferation. J Biol Chem 281, 15505-15516CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Perillo, N.L. et al. (1995) Apoptosis of T cells mediated by galectin-1. Nature 378, 736-739CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Rabinovich, G.A. et al. (2007) An emerging role for galectins in tuning the immune response: lessons from experimental models of inflammatory disease, autoimmunity and cancer. Scand J Immunol 66, 143-158CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21Hernandez, J.D. and Baum, L.G. (2002) Ah, sweet mystery of death! Galectins and control of cell fate. Glycobiology 12, 127R-136RCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22Hahn, H.P. et al. (2004) Galectin-1 induces nuclear translocation of endonuclease G in caspase- and cytochrome c-independent T cell death. Cell Death Differ 11, 1277-1286CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Matarrese, P. et al. (2005) Galectin-1 sensitizes resting human T lymphocytes to Fas (CD95)-mediated cell death via mitochondrial hyperpolarization, budding, and fission. J Biol Chem 280, 6969-6985CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24Stowell, S.R. et al. (2007) Human galectin-1, -2, and -4 induce surface exposure of phosphatidylserine in activated human neutrophils but not in activated T cells. Blood 109, 219-227CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25Toscano, M.A. et al. (2007) Differential glycosylation of TH1, TH2 and TH-17 effector cells selectively regulates susceptibility to cell death. Nat Immunol 8, 825-834CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26Garin, M.I. et al. (2007) Galectin-1: a key effector of regulation mediated by CD4 + CD25+ T cells. Blood 109, 2058-2065CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27Barrionuevo, P. et al. (2007) A novel function for galectin-1 at the crossroad of innate and adaptive immunity: galectin-1 regulates monocyte/macrophage physiology through a nonapoptotic ERK-dependent pathway. J Immunol 178, 436-445CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28Correa, S.G. et al. (2003) Opposite effects of galectin-1 on alternative metabolic pathways of L-arginine in resident, inflammatory, and activated macrophages. Glycobiology 13, 119-128CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29Fulcher, J.A. et al. (2006) Galectin-1-matured human monocyte-derived dendritic cells have enhanced migration through extracellular matrix. J Immunol 177, 216-226CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30Perone, M.J. et al. (2006) Transgenic galectin-1 induces maturation of dendritic cells that elicit contrasting responses in naive and activated T cells. J Immunol 176, 7207-7220CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31Pacienza, N. et al. (2008) The immunoregulatory glycan-binding protein galectin-1 triggers human platelet activation. FASEB J, 22, 1113-1123CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32Blois, S.M. et al. (2007) A pivotal role for galectin-1 in fetomaternal tolerance. Nat Med 13, 1450-1457CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33Levi, G., Tarrab-Hazdai, R. and Teichberg, V.I. (1983) Prevention and therapy with electrolectin of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis in rabbits. Eur J Immunol 13, 500-507CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34Offner, H. et al. (1990) Recombinant human beta-galactoside binding lectin suppresses clinical and histological signs of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J Neuroimmunol 28, 177-184CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35Rabinovich, G.A. et al. (1999) Recombinant galectin-1 and its genetic delivery suppress collagen-induced arthritis via T cell apoptosis. J Exp Med 190, 385-398CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
36Santucci, L. et al. (2000) Galectin-1 exerts immunomodulatory and protective effects on concanavalin A-induced hepatitis in mice. Hepatology 31, 399-406CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
37Santucci, L. et al. (2003) Galectin-1 suppresses experimental colitis in mice. Gastroenterology 124, 1381-1394CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
38Baum, L.G. et al. (2003) Amelioration of graft versus host disease by galectin-1. Clin Immunol 109, 295-307CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
39Toscano, M.A. et al. (2006) Galectin-1 suppresses autoimmune retinal disease by promoting concomitant Th2- and T regulatory-mediated anti-inflammatory responses. J Immunol 176, 6323-6332CrossRefGoogle Scholar
40Perone, M.J. et al. (2006) Dendritic cells expressing transgenic galectin-1 delay onset of autoimmune diabetes in mice. J Immunol 177, 5278-5289CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
41Bianco, G.A. et al. (2006) Impact of protein-glycan interactions in the regulation of autoimmunity and chronic inflammation. Autoimmun Rev 5, 349-356CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
42Camby, I. et al. (2006) Galectin-1: a small protein with major functions. Glycobiology 16, 137R-157RCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
43Liu, F.T. and Rabinovich, G.A. (2005) Galectins as modulators of tumour progression. Nat Rev Cancer 5, 29-41CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
44Paz, A. et al. (2001) Galectin-1 binds oncogenic H-Ras to mediate Ras membrane anchorage and cell transformation. Oncogene 20, 7486-7493CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
45Elad-Sfadia, G. et al. (2002) Galectin-1 augments Ras activation and diverts Ras signals to Raf-1 at the expense of phosphoinositide 3-kinase. J Biol Chem 277, 37169-37175CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
46Camby, I. et al. (2002) Galectin-1 modulates human glioblastoma cell migration into the brain through modifications to the actin cytoskeleton and levels of expression of small GTPases. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 61, 585-596CrossRefGoogle Scholar
47Mathieu, V. et al. (2007) Galectin-1 knockdown increases sensitivity to temozolomide in a B16F10 mouse metastatic melanoma model. J Invest Dermatol 127, 2399-2410CrossRefGoogle Scholar
48Rubinstein, N. et al. (2004) Targeted inhibition of galectin-1 gene expression in tumor cells results in heightened T cell-mediated rejection; A potential mechanism of tumor-immune privilege. Cancer Cell 5, 241-251CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
49Gandhi, M.K. et al. (2007) Galectin-1 mediated suppression of Epstein-Barr virus specific T-cell immunity in classic Hodgkin lymphoma. Blood 110, 1326-1329CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
50Juszczynski, P. et al. (2007) The AP1-dependent secretion of galectin-1 by Reed Sternberg cells fosters immune privilege in classical Hodgkin lymphoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104, 13134-13139CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
51Thijssen, V.L. et al. (2006) Galectin-1 is essential in tumor angiogenesis and is a target for antiangiogenesis therapy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103, 15975-15980CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
52Jung, E.J. et al. (2007) Galectin-1 expression in cancer-associated stromal cells correlates tumor invasiveness and tumor progression in breast cancer. Int J Cancer 120, 2331-2338CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
53He, J. and Baum, L.G. (2006) Endothelial cell expression of galectin-1 induced by prostate cancer cells inhibits T-cell transendothelial migration. Lab Invest 86, 578-590CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
54Puche, A.C. and Key, B. (1995) Identification of cells expressing galectin-1, a galactose-binding receptor, in the rat olfactory system. J Comp Neurol 357, 513-523CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
55Puche, A.C. et al. (1996) Role of galectin-1 in the developing mouse olfactory system. Dev Biol 179, 274-287CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
56Sakaguchi, M. et al. (2006) A carbohydrate-binding protein, Galectin-1, promotes proliferation of adult neural stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103, 7112-7117CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
57Plachta, N. et al. (2007) Identification of a lectin causing the degeneration of neuronal processes using engineered embryonic stem cells. Nat Neurosci 10, 712-719CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
58Horie, H. et al. (1999) Galectin-1 regulates initial axonal growth in peripheral nerves after axotomy. J Neurosci 19, 9964-9974CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
59Inagaki, Y. et al. (2000) Oxidized galectin-1 promotes axonal regeneration in peripheral nerves but does not possess lectin properties. Eur J Biochem 267, 2955-2964Google Scholar
60Cooper, D.N. and Barondes, S.H. (1990) Evidence for export of a muscle lectin from cytosol to extracellular matrix and for a novel secretory mechanism. J Cell Biol 110, 1681-1691CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
61Cooper, D.N., Massa, S.M. and Barondes, S.H. (1991) Endogenous muscle lectin inhibits myoblast adhesion to laminin. J Cell Biol 115, 1437-1448CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
62Chan, J. et al. (2006) Galectin-1 induces skeletal muscle differentiation in human fetal mesenchymal stem cells and increases muscle regeneration. Stem Cells 24, 1879-1891CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
63Georgiadis, V. et al. (2007) Lack of galectin-1 results in defects in myoblast fusion and muscle regeneration. Dev Dyn 236, 1014-1024CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
64Lobsanov, Y.D. et al. (1993) Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the human dimeric S-Lac lectin (L-14-II). J Mol Biol 233, 553-555CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
65Lobsanov, Y.D. et al. (1993) X-ray crystal structure of the human dimeric S-Lac lectin, L-14-II, in complex with lactose at 2.9-A resolution. J Biol Chem 268, 27034-27038CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
66Sturm, A. et al. (2004) Human galectin-2: novel inducer of T cell apoptosis with distinct profile of caspase activation. J Immunol 173, 3825-3837CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
67Paclik, D. et al. (2007) Galectin-2 induces apoptosis of lamina propria T lymphocytes and ameliorates acute and chronic experimental colitis in mice. J Mol Med Dec 7 [Epub ahead of print]Google ScholarPubMed
68Ozaki, K. et al. (2004) Functional variation in LGALS2 confers risk of myocardial infarction and regulates lymphotoxin-alpha secretion in vitro. Nature 429, 72-75CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
69Gorski, J.P. et al. (2002) New alternatively spliced form of galectin-3, a member of the beta-galactoside-binding animal lectin family, contains a predicted transmembrane-spanning domain and a leucine zipper motif. J Biol Chem 277, 18840-18848CrossRefGoogle Scholar
70Seetharaman, J. et al. (1998) X-ray crystal structure of the human galectin-3 carbohydrate recognition domain at 2.1-A resolution. J Biol Chem 273, 13047-13052CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
71Birdsall, B. et al. (2001) NMR solution studies of hamster galectin-3 and electron microscopic visualization of surface-adsorbed complexes: evidence for interactions between the N- and C-terminal domains. Biochemistry 40, 4859-4866CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
72Mehul, B. and Hughes, R.C. (1997) Plasma membrane targetting, vesicular budding and release of galectin 3 from the cytoplasm of mammalian cells during secretion. J Cell Sci 110, 1169-1178CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
73Almkvist, J. and Karlsson, A. (2004) Galectins as inflammatory mediators. Glycoconj J 19, 575-581CrossRefGoogle Scholar
74Ochieng, J. et al. (1998) Modulation of the biological functions of galectin-3 by matrix metalloproteinases. Biochim Biophys Acta 1379, 97-106CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
75Dagher, S.F., Wang, J.L. and Patterson, R.J. (1995) Identification of galectin-3 as a factor in pre-mRNA splicing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 92, 1213-1217CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
76Huflejt, M.E. et al. (1993) L-29, a soluble lactose-binding lectin, is phosphorylated on serine 6 and serine 12 in vivo and by casein kinase I. J Biol Chem 268, 26712-26718CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
77Hsu, D.K., Yang, R.Y. and Liu, F.T. (2006) Galectins in apoptosis. Methods Enzymol 417, 256-273CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
78Yoshii, T. et al. (2002) Galectin-3 phosphorylation is required for its anti-apoptotic function and cell cycle arrest. J Biol Chem 277, 6852-6857CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
79Takenaka, Y. et al. (2004) Nuclear export of phosphorylated galectin-3 regulates its antiapoptotic activity in response to chemotherapeutic drugs. Mol Cell Biol 24, 4395-4406CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
80Hughes, R.C. (2001) Galectins as modulators of cell adhesion. Biochimie 83, 667-676CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
81Demetriou, M. et al. (2001) Negative regulation of T-cell activation and autoimmunity by Mgat5 N-glycosylation. Nature 409, 733-739CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
82Partridge, E.A. et al. (2004) Regulation of cytokine receptors by Golgi N-glycan processing and endocytosis. Science 306, 120-124CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
83Nakahara, S. and Raz, A. (2007) Regulation of cancer-related gene expression by galectin-3 and the molecular mechanism of its nuclear import pathway. Cancer Metastasis Rev 26, 605-610CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
84Chen, H.Y. et al. (2006) Role of galectin-3 in mast cell functions: galectin-3-deficient mast cells exhibit impaired mediator release and defective JNK expression. J Immunol 177, 4991-4997CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
85Liu, F.T. (2005) Regulatory roles of galectins in the immune response. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 136, 385-400CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
86Cortegano, I. et al. (1998) Galectin-3 down-regulates IL-5 gene expression on different cell types. J Immunol 161, 385-389CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
87Kuwabara, I. and Liu, F.T. (1996) Galectin-3 promotes adhesion of human neutrophils to laminin. J Immunol 156, 3939-3944CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
88Sato, S. et al. (2002) Role of galectin-3 as an adhesion molecule for neutrophil extravasation during streptococcal pneumonia. J Immunol 168, 1813-1822CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
89Silva-Monteiro, E. et al. (2007) Altered expression of galectin-3 induces cortical thymocyte depletion and premature exit of immature thymocytes during Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Am J Pathol 170, 546-556CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
90Swarte, V.V. et al. (1998) Lymphocyte triggering via L-selectin leads to enhanced galectin-3-mediated binding to dendritic cells. Eur J Immunol 28, 2864-28713.0.CO;2-U>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
91Mina-Osorio, P., Soto-Cruz, I. and Ortega, E. (2007) A role for galectin-3 in CD13-mediated homotypic aggregation of monocytes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 353, 605-610CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
92Sano, H. et al. (2003) Critical role of galectin-3 in phagocytosis by macrophages. J Clin Invest 112, 389-397CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
93Zuberi, R.I. et al. (2004) Critical role for galectin-3 in airway inflammation and bronchial hyperresponsiveness in a murine model of asthma. Am J Pathol 165, 2045-2053CrossRefGoogle Scholar
94Lopez, E. et al. (2006) Inhibition of chronic airway inflammation and remodeling by galectin-3 gene therapy in a murine model. J Immunol 176, 1943-1950CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
95Danguy, A., Camby, I. and Kiss, R. (2002) Galectins and cancer. Biochim Biophys Acta 1572, 285-293CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
96Ashery, U. et al. (2006) Spatiotemporal organization of Ras signaling: rasosomes and the galectin switch. Cell Mol Neurobiol 26, 471-495CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
97Nakahara, S., Oka, N. and Raz, A. (2005) On the role of galectin-3 in cancer apoptosis. Apoptosis 10, 267-275CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
98Cecchinelli, B. et al. (2006) Repression of the antiapoptotic molecule galectin-3 by homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2-activated p53 is required for p53-induced apoptosis. Mol Cell Biol 26, 4746-4757CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
99Paron, I. et al. (2003) Nuclear localization of Galectin-3 in transformed thyroid cells: a role in transcriptional regulation. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 302, 545-553CrossRefGoogle Scholar
100Shimura, T. et al. (2004) Galectin-3, a novel binding partner of beta-catenin. Cancer Res 64, 6363-6367CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
101Shimura, T. et al. (2005) Implication of galectin-3 in Wnt signaling. Cancer Res 65, 3535-3537CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
102Le Marer, N. and Hughes, R.C. (1996) Effects of the carbohydrate-binding protein galectin-3 on the invasiveness of human breast carcinoma cells. J Cell Physiol 168, 51-583.0.CO;2-7>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
103Moisa, A. et al. (2007) Growth/adhesion-regulatory tissue lectin galectin-3: stromal presence but not cytoplasmic/nuclear expression in tumor cells as a negative prognostic factor in breast cancer. Anticancer Res 27, 2131-2139Google Scholar
104Matarrese, P. et al. (2000) Galectin-3 overexpression protects from apoptosis by improving cell adhesion properties. Int J Cancer 85, 545-5543.0.CO;2-N>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
105O'Driscoll, L. et al. (2002) Galectin-3 expression alters adhesion, motility and invasion in a lung cell line (DLKP), in vitro. Anticancer Res 22, 3117-3125Google Scholar
106Nangia-Makker, P. et al. (2000) Galectin-3 induces endothelial cell morphogenesis and angiogenesis. Am J Pathol 156, 899-909CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
107Henderson, N.C. et al. (2006) Galectin-3 regulates myofibroblast activation and hepatic fibrosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103, 5060-5065CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
108John, C.M. et al. (2003) Truncated galectin-3 inhibits tumor growth and metastasis in orthotopic nude mouse model of human breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res 9, 2374-2383Google ScholarPubMed
109Nachtigal, M. et al. (1998) Galectin-3 expression in human atherosclerotic lesions. Am J Pathol 152, 1199-1208Google ScholarPubMed
110Nachtigal, M., Ghaffar, A. and Mayer, E.P. (2008) Galectin-3 gene inactivation reduces atherosclerotic lesions and adventitial inflammation in apoE-deficient mice. Am J Pathol 172, 247-255CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
111Iacobini, C. et al. (2003) Role of galectin-3 in diabetic nephropathy. J Am Soc Nephrol 14, S264-270CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
112Pugliese, G. et al. (2001) Accelerated diabetic glomerulopathy in galectin-3/AGE receptor 3 knockout mice. FASEB J 15, 2471-2479CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
113Stitt, A.W. et al. (2005) Impaired retinal angiogenesis in diabetes: role of advanced glycation end products and galectin-3. Diabetes 54, 785-794CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
114Cao, Z. et al. (2002) Galectins-3 and -7, but not galectin-1, play a role in re-epithelialization of wounds. J Biol Chem 277, 42299-42305CrossRefGoogle Scholar
115Chiu, M.L. et al. (1994) An adherens junction protein is a member of the family of lactose-binding lectins. J Biol Chem 269, 31770-31776CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
116Danielsen, E.M. and van Deurs, B. (1997) Galectin-4 and small intestinal brush border enzymes form clusters. Mol Biol Cell 8, 2241-2251CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
117Delacour, D. et al. (2005) Galectin-4 and sulfatides in apical membrane trafficking in enterocyte-like cells. J Cell Biol 169, 491-501CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
118Hokama, A. et al. (2004) Induced reactivity of intestinal CD4(+) T cells with an epithelial cell lectin, galectin-4, contributes to exacerbation of intestinal inflammation. Immunity 20, 681-693CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
119Huflejt, M.E. and Leffler, H. (2004) Galectin-4 in normal tissues and cancer. Glycoconj J 20, 247-255CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
120Leonidas, D.D. et al. (1998) Structural basis for the recognition of carbohydrates by human galectin- 7. Biochemistry 37, 13930-13940CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
121Polyak, K. et al. (1997) A model for p53-induced apoptosis. Nature 389, 300-305CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
122Bernerd, F., Sarasin, A. and Magnaldo, T. (1999) Galectin-7 overexpression is associated with the apoptotic process in UVB-induced sunburn keratinocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 96, 11329-11334CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
123Kuwabara, I. et al. (2002) Galectin-7 (PIG1) exhibits pro-apoptotic function through JNK activation and mitochondrial cytochrome c release. J Biol Chem 277, 3487-3497CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
124Rorive, S. et al. (2002) Changes in galectin-7 and cytokeratin-19 expression during the progression of malignancy in thyroid tumors: diagnostic and biological implications. Mod Pathol 15, 1294-1301CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
125Ueda, S., Kuwabara, I. and Liu, F.T. (2004) Suppression of tumor growth by galectin-7 gene transfer. Cancer Res 64, 5672-5676CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
126Moisan, S. et al. (2003) Upregulation of galectin-7 in murine lymphoma cells is associated with progression toward an aggressive phenotype. Leukemia 17, 751-759CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
127Demers, M., Magnaldo, T. and St-Pierre, Y. (2005) A novel function for galectin-7: promoting tumorigenesis by up-regulating MMP-9 gene expression. Cancer Res 65, 5205-5210CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
128Demers, M. et al. (2007) Galectin-7 in lymphoma: elevated expression in human lymphoid malignancies and decreased lymphoma dissemination by antisense strategies in experimental model. Cancer Res 67, 2824-2829CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
129Cao, Z. et al. (2002) Detection of differentially expressed genes in healing mouse corneas, using cDNA microarrays. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 43, 2897-2904Google ScholarPubMed
130Cao, Z. et al. (2003) Galectin-7 as a potential mediator of corneal epithelial cell migration. Arch Ophthalmol 121, 82-86CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
131Bidon, N. et al. (2001) Two messenger RNAs and five isoforms for Po66-CBP, a galectin-8 homolog in a human lung carcinoma cell line. Gene 274, 253-262CrossRefGoogle Scholar
132Bidon-Wagner, N. and Le Pennec, J.P. (2004) Human galectin-8 isoforms and cancer. Glycoconj J 19, 557-563CrossRefGoogle Scholar
133Hadari, Y.R. et al. (2000) Galectin-8 binding to integrins inhibits cell adhesion and induces apoptosis. J Cell Sci 113, 2385-2397CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
134Levy, Y. et al. (2003) Sustained induction of ERK, protein kinase B, and p70 S6 kinase regulates cell spreading and formation of F-actin microspikes upon ligation of integrins by galectin-8, a mammalian lectin. J Biol Chem 278, 14533-14542CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
135Zick, Y. et al. (2004) Role of galectin-8 as a modulator of cell adhesion and cell growth. Glycoconj J 19, 517-526CrossRefGoogle Scholar
136Nishi, N. et al. (2003) Galectin-8 modulates neutrophil function via interaction with integrin alphaM. Glycobiology 13, 755-763CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
137Nagy, N. et al. (2002) Galectin-8 expression decreases in cancer compared with normal and dysplastic human colon tissue and acts significantly on human colon cancer cell migration as a suppressor. Gut 50, 392-401CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
138Boura-Halfon, S. et al. (2003) Extracellular matrix proteins modulate endocytosis of the insulin receptor. J Biol Chem 278, 16397-16404CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
139Eshkar Sebban, L. et al. (2007) The involvement of CD44 and its novel ligand galectin-8 in apoptotic regulation of autoimmune inflammation. J Immunol 179, 1225-1235CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
140Nagae, M. et al. (2006) Crystal structure of the galectin-9 N-terminal carbohydrate recognition domain from Mus musculus reveals the basic mechanism of carbohydrate recognition. J Biol Chem 281, 35884-35893CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
141Miyanishi, N. et al. (2007) Carbohydrate-recognition domains of galectin-9 are involved in intermolecular interaction with galectin-9 itself and other members of the galectin family. Glycobiology 17, 423-432CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
142Spitzenberger, F., Graessler, J. and Schroeder, H.E. (2001) Molecular and functional characterization of galectin 9 mRNA isoforms in porcine and human cells and tissues. Biochimie 83, 851-862CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
143Chabot, S. et al. (2002) Regulation of galectin-9 expression and release in Jurkat T cell line cells. Glycobiology 12, 111-118CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
144Sato, M. et al. (2002) Functional analysis of the carbohydrate recognition domains and a linker peptide of galectin-9 as to eosinophil chemoattractant activity. Glycobiology 12, 191-197CrossRefGoogle Scholar
145Pioche-Durieu, C. et al. (2005) In nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, Epstein-Barr virus LMP1 interacts with galectin 9 in membrane raft elements resistant to simvastatin. J Virol 79, 13326-13337CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
146Leal-Pinto, E. et al. (1997) Molecular cloning and functional reconstitution of a urate transporter/channel. J Biol Chem 272, 617-625CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
147Lipkowitz, M.S. et al. (2001) Functional reconstitution, membrane targeting, genomic structure, and chromosomal localization of a human urate transporter. J Clin Invest 107, 1103-1115CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
148Graessler, J. et al. (2000) Genomic structure of galectin-9 gene. Mutation analysis of a putative human urate channel/transporter. Adv Exp Med Biol 486, 179-183Google ScholarPubMed
149Matsumoto, R. et al. (1998) Human ecalectin, a variant of human galectin-9, is a novel eosinophil chemoattractant produced by T lymphocytes. J Biol Chem 273, 16976-16984CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
150Matsushita, N. et al. (2000) Requirement of divalent galactoside-binding activity of ecalectin/galectin-9 for eosinophil chemoattraction. J Biol Chem 275, 8355-8360CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
151Wada, J. et al. (1997) Developmental regulation, expression, and apoptotic potential of galectin-9, a β-galactoside binding lectin. J Clin Invest 99, 2452-2461CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
152van de Weyer, P.S. et al. (2006) A highly conserved tyrosine of Tim-3 is phosphorylated upon stimulation by its ligand galectin-9. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 351, 571-576CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
153Zhu, C. et al. (2005) The Tim-3 ligand galectin-9 negatively regulates T helper type 1 immunity. Nat Immunol 6, 1245-1252CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
154Dai, S.Y. et al. (2005) Galectin-9 induces maturation of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells. J Immunol 175, 2974-2981CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
155Anderson, A.C. et al. (2007) Promotion of tissue inflammation by the immune receptor Tim-3 expressed on innate immune cells. Science 318, 1141-1143CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
156Seki, M. et al. (2007) Beneficial effect of galectin 9 on rheumatoid arthritis by induction of apoptosis of synovial fibroblasts. Arthritis Rheum 56, 3968-3976CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
157Seki, M. et al. (2008) Galectin-9 suppresses the generation of Th17, promotes the induction of regulatory T cells, and regulates experimental autoimmune arthritis. Clin Immunol 127, 78-88CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
158Tsuchiyama, Y. et al. (2000) Efficacy of galectins in the amelioration of nephrotoxic serum nephritis in Wistar Kyoto rats. Kidney Int 58, 1941-1952CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
159Baba, M. et al. (2005) Galectin-9 inhibits glomerular hypertrophy in db/db diabetic mice via cell-cycle-dependent mechanisms. J Am Soc Nephrol 16, 3222-3234CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
160Ohtsubo, K. et al. (2005) Dietary and genetic control of glucose transporter 2 glycosylation promotes insulin secretion in suppressing diabetes. Cell 123, 1307-1321CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
161Swaminathan, G.J. et al. (1999) Selective recognition of mannose by the human eosinophil Charcot-Leyden crystal protein (galectin-10): a crystallographic study at 1.8 A resolution. Biochemistry 38, 13837-13843CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
162Leonidas, D.D. et al. (1995) Crystal structure of human Charcot-Leyden crystal protein, an eosinophil lysophospholipase, identifies it as a new member of the carbohydrate-binding family of galectins. Structure 3, 1379-1393CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
163Kubach, J. et al. (2007) Human CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells: proteome analysis identifies galectin-10 as a novel marker essential for their anergy and suppressive function. Blood 110, 1550-1558CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
164Yang, R.Y. et al. (2001) Cell cycle regulation by galectin-12, a new member of the galectin superfamily. J Biol Chem 276, 20252-20260CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
165Hotta, K. et al. (2001) Galectin-12, an adipose-expressed galectin-like molecule possessing apoptosis-inducing activity. J Biol Chem 276, 34089-34097CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
166Kouadjo, K.E. et al. (2007) Housekeeping and tissue-specific genes in mouse tissues. BMC Genomics 8, 127CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
167Yang, R.Y. et al. (2004) Galectin-12 is required for adipogenic signaling and adipocyte differentiation. J Biol Chem 279, 29761-29766CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
168Dunphy, J.L. et al. (2000) Isolation and characterization of a novel inducible mammalian galectin. J Biol Chem 275, 32106-32113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
169Gray, C.A. et al. (2004) Discovery and characterization of an epithelial-specific galectin in the endometrium that forms crystals in the trophectoderm. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101, 7982-7987CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
170Farmer, J.L. et al. (2008) Galectin 15 (LGALS15) functions in trophectoderm migration and attachment. FASEB J 22, 548-560CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
171Fukumori, T. et al. (2003) CD29 and CD7 mediate galectin-3-induced type II T-cell apoptosis. Cancer Res 63, 8302-8311Google ScholarPubMed
172Stillman, B.N. et al. (2006) Galectin-3 and galectin-1 bind distinct cell surface glycoprotein receptors to induce T cell death. J Immunol 176, 778-789CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
173Lau, K.S. et al. (2007) Complex N-glycan number and degree of branching cooperate to regulate cell proliferation and differentiation. Cell 129, 123-134CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Further reading, resources and contacts

The Consortium for Functional Glycomics provides researchers with reagents, resources and services to study the functions of glycans, glycosyltransferases and lectins, including galectins:

http://www.functionalglycomics.org/static/consortium/consortium.shtmlGoogle Scholar
http://imperial.ac.uk/research/animallectins/ctld/classes/Galectin1.htmlGoogle Scholar