Pancreatic cancer (PDAC) is a lethal disease with a five-year survival of 3-5%. Mutations in K-Ras are found in nearly all cases, but K-Ras mutations alone are not sufficient for the development of PDAC. Additional factors contribute to activation of Ras signaling and lead to tumor formation. Galectin-3 (Gal-3), a multifunctional β-galactoside-binding protein, is highly expressed in PDAC. We th...

The Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF or T) antigen, Galβ1-3GalNAcα1-O-Ser/Thr, is the core 1 structure of O-linked mucin type glycans appearing in tumor-associated glycosylation. The TF antigen occurs in about 90% of human cancer cells and is a potential ligand for the human endogenous galectins. It has been reported that human galectin-1 (Gal-1) and galectin-3 (Gal-3) can perform their cancer-related ...

BACKGROUND Galectin (Gal)-3 is a β-galactoside-binding lectin and currently intensely studied as a biomarker in heart failure. Gal-3 also exerts proinflammatory effects, at least in extracardiac tissues. Objective of this study was to characterize the relationship of plasma and myocardial Gal-3 levels with cardiac fibrosis and inflammation in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy and...

INTRODUCTION Galectin-9 (Gal-9) induces adhesion and aggregation of certain cell types and inhibits the metastasis of tumor cells. T-cell immunoglobulin-and mucin domain-3-containing molecule 3 (TIM-3) plays a pivotal role in immune regulation. The aim of this study is to investigate Gal-9 and TIM-3 alterations in gastric cancer and their prognostic values. METHODS Gal-9 and Tim-3 expression ...

The purpose of these studies was to explore the sex- and tissue-specific expression of the LH receptor (LHR) gene. Fusion genes containing three different lengths of the 5'-flanking region of the mouse LHR gene (7.4 kb, 2.1 kb, and 173 bp), beta-globin intron, and the beta-galactosidase (beta-GAL) reporter gene were constructed. Function of these fusion genes [LHR (7.4 kb)/beta-GAL, LHR (2.1 kb...

Galectin-3 (Gal-3), a β-galactoside-binding lectin, serves as a pattern-recognition receptor (PRR) of dendritic cells (DCs) in regulating proinflammatory cytokine production. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) siRNA downregulates expression of IL-6, IL-1β and IL-23 p19, while upregulates IL-10 and IL-12 p35 in TLR/NLR stimulated human MoDCs. Furthermore, Gal-3 siRNA-treated MoDCs enhanced IFN-γ production in S...

We describe that galectin-1 (gal-1) is a receptor for the angiogenesis inhibitor anginex, and that the protein is crucial for tumor angiogenesis. gal-1 is overexpressed in endothelial cells of different human tumors. Expression knockdown in cultured endothelial cells inhibits cell proliferation and migration. The importance of gal-1 in angiogenesis is illustrated in the zebrafish model, where e...

Galectins (gal) are members of the mammalian β-galactoside-binding proteins and recognize Galβ1-4GlcNAc and Galβ1-4GalNac (Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen (TF)) sequences of several cell surface oligosaccharides. In this study, gal-1, -2, -3 and -13 were investigated systematically in the trophoblast and decidua compartment of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) placentas and normal third trime...

PURPOSE In this study, we aimed to assess whether the expression pattern of galectins is altered in Pseudomonas aeruginosa-infected and chemically burned mouse corneas. METHODS Galectin (Gal) fingerprinting of normal, P. aeruginosa-infected, and silver nitrate-cauterized corneas was performed by Western blotting, immunofluorescence staining, and qRT-PCR. RESULTS In normal corneas, Gal-1 was...

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are used in tissue engineering because of their migration characters. However, BM-MSCs have limitations in terms of reaching injuries and self-renewal. Therefore, enhancement of BM-MSC migration is important for therapeutic applications. Here, we assessed whether galectin-3 (Gal-3) increases the migration of minature pig BM-MSCs. Gal-3 was knocked do...