Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P17931 (galectin-3)
 2,860 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Galectin-3, a lectin-family protein that appears to be involved in malignant transformation, has been reported to be an accurate immunohistochemical marker for thyroid cancer. However, immunohistochemistry is a subjective method that can be difficult to apply to cytologic specimens. Therefore, we sought to develop an objective and quantitative assay to measure galectin-3 mRNA in thyroid tissue to enhance potential clinical use of galectin-3 in the molecular analysis of thyroid nodules. In this study, total RNA from 37 snap-frozen thyroid tissue specimens was isolated from eight papillary and nine follicular thyroid cancers, six follicular adenomas, seven adenomatoid nodules, and seven normal thyroid lobes from patients undergoing thyroidectomy. Normalized levels of galectin-3 mRNA, expressed as picograms per nanogram GAPDH mRNA, were higher in papillary carcinomas (3327 pg/ng) and follicular adenomas (1314 pg/ng) than in thyroid normal tissue (426 pg/ng; P = 0.0012 and 0.032, respectively). Galectin-3 mRNA levels were also higher in papillary cancers than in adenomatoid nodules (P = 0.0012). However, galectin-3 mRNA levels were not statistically greater in follicular carcinomas than either normal tissue or follicular adenomas (P = 0.068 and 0.12, respectively). In summary, in comparison to galectin-3 immunohistochemistry, quantitative measurement of galectin-3 mRNA appears useful in the identification of papillary thyroid cancers (PTCs) but does not appear to be useful in distinguishing follicular carcinomas from follicular adenomas.
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PMID:Determination of galectin-3 messenger ribonucleic Acid overexpression in papillary thyroid cancer by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. 1236 75

The differential proteomic approach (2D gel analysis coupled to MALDI-MS analysis) of nuclear proteins can provide an extremely useful tool to understand control of cell proliferation and differentiation. In order to identify possible markers of dedifferentiation between normal and cancerous thyroid cells, we used a differential proteomics approach by comparing nuclear extracts from the normal rat thyroid cell line FRTL-5 and the completely undifferentiated Ki-mol cell line, obtained by transformation with the Ki-ras oncogene. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) was identified as highly expressed, in the nuclear compartment, only in the transformed cell line. By using different human cancer cell lines, we showed that Gal-3 is maximally expressed in nuclei of papillary cancer cells. We focused on the functional relationship existing between Gal-3 and the thyroid-specific transcription factor TTF-1, whose expression is maintained in papillary cancer where it can contribute to the proliferating status. By using gel-retardation and transient tranfection assays, we demonstrate that Gal-3 upregulates the TTF-1 transcriptional activity. GST-pulldown experiments demonstrate the occurrence of interaction between Gal-3 and TTF-1 homeodomain. Since several lines of evidence suggest a role for Gal-3 in controlling proliferation and tumor progression in thyroid cancer, the stimulatory activity played by Gal-3 over TTF-1 would account for a possible molecular mechanism through which the galectin controls proliferation in thyroid cells.
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PMID:Nuclear localization of Galectin-3 in transformed thyroid cells: a role in transcriptional regulation. 1261 69

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) represents the most common cause of hypothyroidism and nonendemic goiter, but its clinical and pathological heterogeneity opens the question if this disease should be more properly considered as a spectrum of different thyroid conditions rather than as a single nosological entity. In this study, we analysed 133 cases of HT for the expression of galectin-3, a lectin molecule involved in malignant transformation, apoptosis and cell cycle control. An unexpected expression of galectin-3 was demonstrated in a subset of HT together with the presence of HBME-1, c-met and cyclin-D1 that are also involved in malignant transformation and deregulated cell growth. Furthermore, a loss of allelic heterozygosity in a specific cancer-related chromosomal region was demonstrated in some HT harbouring galectin-3-positive follicular cells, by using laser capture microdissection. On the basis of the morphological and molecular findings we identified four subsets of HT: (a) HT with classic features of chronic autoimmune thyroiditis; (b) HT associated to hyperplastic/adenomatous lesions; (c) HT harbouring thyroid cancer precursors; (d) HT associated to unequivocal thyroid microcarcinomas. Our findings provide a well-substantiated morphological and molecular demonstration that HT may include a spectrum of different thyroid conditions ranging from chronic autoimmune thyroiditis to thyroiditis triggered by specific immune-response to cancer-related antigens.
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PMID:Detection and molecular characterisation of thyroid cancer precursor lesions in a specific subset of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. 1529 26

Fine-needle aspiration cytology, which is well established to be accurate for the diagnosis of thyroid cancer, may be inconclusive for the follicular thyroid neoplasms. As galectin-3 was suggested to be a marker of malignant thyrocytes, we investigated whether this protein might be helpful in the diagnosis of aspirates classified as undeterminate by cytology. After establishing an easy processing of aspirates for galectin-3 immunodetection, a series of aspirates categorised as benign (n=63), malignant (n=17) or undeterminate (n=34) was prospectively analysed for galectin-3. Only the patients with malignant or undeterminate lesions underwent surgery. Most lesions (86%) diagnosed as malignant by cytology or after surgery were positive for galectin-3. The majority of lesions (94%) classified as benign by cytology or after surgery was negative for galectin-3. The positive and negative predictive values were 83 and 95%, respectively. When focusing on the undeterminate lesions, the sensitivity and specificity were 75 and 90%, respectively, while the positive and negative predictive values were 82 and 87%, respectively. The specificity and the positive predictive value were higher (100%) when considering the percentage of stained cells. Altogether these results show that galectin-3 constitutes a useful marker in the diagnosis of thyroid lesions classified as undeterminate by conventional cytology.
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PMID:Galectin-3 immunodetection in follicular thyroid neoplasms: a prospective study on fine-needle aspiration samples. 1625 80

Thyroid nodules are extremely common in the general population. The differential diagnosis includes numerous entities, non-neoplastic and neoplastic, benign and malignant. However, the diagnosis of follicular-patterned lesions remains an area fraught with controversy and diagnostic criteria are highly variable. It is, therefore, a field in need of objective, scientific markers that better characterize these lesions than has been possible by classical morphology. A number of candidates have been proposed. No single marker can identify all malignant follicular-patterned lesions, however, various combinations have been proposed. They include HBME-1, high molecular weight cytokeratins and ret, galectin-3 and TPO, galectin-3, fibronectin-1, CITED-1, HBME-1, and CK19. Advances in our understanding of the molecular basis of thyroid cancer will allow the identification of new markers and more accurate characterization of specific subtypes of neoplasia and malignancy. As new markers are characterized and validated, directed by molecular profiling of thyroid lesions with characteristic morphology, behavior, and outcome, they will become available as routine immunohistochemical markers that will provide a more accurate, scientific, and clinically relevant consultation report from the pathologist for cytology and surgical pathology procedures. Application of these markers will enhance the diagnosis of thyroid nodules and better guide the management of patients with these lesions.
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PMID:The role of immunohistochemical markers in the diagnosis of follicular-patterned lesions of the thyroid. 1662 17

Galectin-3 is a multifunctional protein highly expressed in thyroid cancer. The galectin-3 gene (LGALS3) has several annotated candidates SNPs, however the relationship between galectin-3 SNPs and specific phenotypic variations relevant to health has not been evaluated. In this study, we investigated SNPs in the galectin-3 gene and a putative association with thyroid tumorigenesis. The presence of LGALS3 SNPs in thyroid carcinoma cell lines (NPA, TPC-1, WRO, ARO), thyroid tissues of 55 patients with multinodular goiter or papillary carcinoma diagnosis and lymphocytes of peripheral blood of 45 healthy individuals was evaluated by sequencing and SSCP. The analysis of LGALS3 coding sequence showed that the T98P site presents a great genotypic variation, since we observed both homozygous (AA or CC) and heterozygous (AC) patterns. In thyroid carcinoma cell lines, the genotype of NPA in the LGALS3 T98P site is CC, while TPC-1, WRO and ARO are AC. The genotypic frequency of T98P SNP observed in multinodular goiter (AC= 67%; AA= 23%; CC= 10%) and papillary carcinoma (AC= 68%; AA= 20%; CC= 12%) were similar to the frequency observed in the control population (AC= 60%, AA= 24%, CC= 16%). In conclusion, no association between LGALS3 T98P genotype and the phenotype of the benign or malignant thyroid tumor was observed.
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PMID:[Polymorphism on codon 98 of the galectin-3 gene is not associated to benign and malignant thyroid tumors]. 1722 Nov 14

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. Most patients with thyroid cancer have a great chance for successful treating. There is, however, a group of patients with poor prognosis. The present researches of thyroid tumor markers have related to permanent diagnostic progress of circulating markers analysis (thyroglobulin, thyroid peroxidase, calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen), cellular markers determination and interpretation of results, also. A number of molecular markers have been studied. Diagnostic value of some of them, e.g. TSHR, RET Ras, is well known. Others have investigated continually. Overexpression of BRAF, Met, and p53 has been correlated with aggressiveness of the cancer. Markers said to be of prognostic value in thyroid cancer are CD82, c- myc and Plk-1. The combination of markers: galectin-3, fibronectin and HBME-1 have proven to be sensitive for differentiated thyroid cancer. Further studies on new cellular thyroid markers are essential. The current review presents data concerning the well known cellular markers in thyroid cancer.
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PMID:[Cellular tumor markers in thyroid cancer]. 1768 30

We report the successful validation of a combined gene expression profiling and tissue microarray approach to papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) biomarker identification. Our ultimate goal is the identification of protein biomarkers that can be effectively used in immunocytochemical assays applied to thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) samples. To that end, we designed our approach to prioritize molecules that were minimally expressed in normal thyroid and highly expressed in PTC. We first generated gene expression profiles from 11 normal thyroid tissue samples and 9 samples of classic PTC. The results were segregated to rank most highly those molecules not expressed in normal thyroid and up-regulated at least 6-fold in PTC. From this list, we chose 2 molecules (P-cadherin and Bax) for immunohistochemical analysis for which commercial antibodies were available. These were compared with 2 other molecules that have been previously studied in thyroid cancer (cytokeratin-19 and galectin-3). For immunohistochemistry, a tissue microarray was generated that contained the following tissues: classic PTC (n = 20), follicular variant of PTC (n = 9), normal thyroid (n = 19), Hashimoto thyroiditis (n = 11), follicular adenoma (n = 15), and follicular carcinoma (n = 14). Immunohistochemical staining was scored and compared with the gene expression profiling. As anticipated, cytokeratin-19 and galectin-3 were highly expressed in PTC and less expressed in other tissues. Bax and P-cadherin were also expressed in PTC, but to a lower level than cytokeratin-19 and galectin-3; however, Bax and P-cadherin demonstrated virtually no staining of normal thyroid, unlike cytokeratin-19 and galectin-3. These results validate our approach for PTC biomarker discovery and identify several candidate biomarkers for further development.
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PMID:Identification of immunohistochemical biomarkers for papillary thyroid carcinoma using gene expression profiling. 1826 26

Thyroperoxidase and galectin-3 have been reported as useful immunohistochemical markers of thyroid malignancy. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between immunohistochemical staining results for these markers and clinicopathologic features of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. A total of 193 archival thyroid samples including 28 follicular adenomas, 18 follicular carcinomas, and 147 papillary carcinomas with 114 adjacent thyroid tissues were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Thyroperoxidase was underexpressed (<50% stained thyrocytes), and galectin-3 was expressed (>5% stained thyrocytes) in most carcinomas. The sensitivity for diagnosis of differentiated thyroid carcinoma was 86.1% for thyroperoxidase and 82.4% for galectin-3, whereas the combination of both markers increased the sensitivity up to 94.5%. Thus, the combination of thyroperoxidase and galectin-3 immunohistochemistry may help to ascertain the malignant nature of the lesion. Furthermore, tumor size, nodal involvement, extrathyroidal invasion, and high tumor-node-metastasis stage in patients with papillary carcinoma were related to thyroperoxidase absence and high galectin-3 expression in most cases (P < .05). In patients with follicular carcinoma, the extent of invasiveness was associated with galectin-3 positivity. Thus, expression of these markers is related to more or less aggressive biological behavior of differentiated thyroid carcinomas. Although thyroperoxidase presence may indicate favorable prognosis of papillary cancer, expression of galectin-3 illustrates the potential importance of this protein in the pathogenesis and/or progression of differentiated thyroid carcinomas.
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PMID:Thyroid peroxidase and galectin-3 immunostaining in differentiated thyroid carcinoma with clinicopathologic correlation. 1865 94

Although fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) remains the mainstay of the preoperative workup of thyroid nodules, it does not provide a diagnosis in up to 20% of nodules. This group of indeterminate lesions, including lesions with cellular atypia, suspicious cytology, and demonstrating a follicular pattern, provides one of the greatest challenges to researchers in thyroid cancer today. Over the last 2 decades, considerable work has been done to find molecular markers to resolve this diagnostic dilemma. This article explores some of the markers including galectin-3, HBME-1, BRAF, RET/PTC, PAX8-PPARgamma, hTERT, telomerase, miRNA, and microarray and multigene assays. Although no one marker has proven to be a panacea, several combinations of markers have shown great promise as an adjunct to FNA.
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PMID:Molecular markers in thyroid cancer diagnostics. 1983 89


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