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

Galectin-1 and galectin-3 have important functions in cell-cell interactions, cell adhesion to extracellular matrix, the organization of extracellular matrix, and tissue remodeling. To assess their potential role in chronic pancreatitis (CP), we examined their expression by Northern blot analysis, in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot analysis in normal and CP pancreatic tissues. Northern blot analysis revealed a 4.5-fold increase of galectin-1 mRNA (p < 0.01) and a 3.8-fold increase of galectin-3 mRNA (p < 0.01) in CP samples compared with normal controls. In situ hybridization analysis of normal pancreas indicated low abundance of galectin-1 mRNA in fibroblasts, whereas galectin-3 mRNA was moderately present in ductal cells. CP samples exhibited moderate to intense galectin-1 mRNA signals in fibroblasts, whereas galectin-3 mRNA signals were intense in the cells of ductular complexes and weak in the degenerating acinar cells. In addition, intense galectin-1 and galectin-3 mRNA signals were present in nerves of normal and CP samples. Immunohistochemistry showed a distribution pattern of galectin-1 and galectin-3 similar to that described for in situ hybridization. Relative quantification of galectin-1 and galectin-3 protein by immunoblotting revealed an increase of 3.2-fold and 3.0-fold, respectively, in CP compared with normal controls. There was a significant correlation between galectin-1 and fibrosis and between galectin-3 and fibrosis and the density of ductular complexes. Up-regulation of galectin-1 in fibroblasts and galectin-3 in ductular complexes suggests a role of these lectins in tissue remodeling in CP. Galectin-1 might participate in ECM changes, whereas galectin-3 seems to be involved in both ECM changes and ductular complex formation.
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PMID:Galectin-1 and galectin-3 in chronic pancreatitis. 1095 Jan 14

DMBT1 and galectin-3 are potential interacting proteins with presumably complex roles in tumorigenesis. While at present a variety of mechanisms are discussed for DMBT1 and its participation in cancer, galectin-3 is commonly known to exert tumor-promoting effects. However, in vitro studies in a rodent system have suggested that DMBT1/galectin-3 interaction in the ECM triggers epithelial differentiation, which would point to tumor-suppressive properties. To improve the understanding of DMBT1/galectin-3 action in cancer, we carried out studies in skin cancer of different origins. Mutational analyses of DMBT1 identified a missense mutation in 1 of 13 melanoma cell lines. It led to an exchange of an evolutionary conserved proline residue for serine and located within the second CUB domain of DMBT1. Immunohistochemical analyses demonstrated absence of DMBT1/galectin-3 expression from melanocytes but induction of DMBT1 expression in 1 of 8 nevi and 1 of 11 melanomas and of galectin-3 expression in 3 of 8 nevi and 4 of 8 melanomas. These data suggest that DMBT1 and galectin-3 are unlikely to act as classical tumor suppressors in melanomas. DMBT1 and galectin-3 appear to be secreted to the ECM by epithelial cells within the epidermis and the hair follicle. Compared to the flanking normal epidermis, skin tumors of epithelial origin frequently displayed downregulation of DMBT1 (18 of 19 cases) and galectin-3 (12 of 12 cases). Thus, loss of DMBT1/galectin-3 expression may play a role in the genesis of epithelial skin cancer. This would support the view that galectin-3 can exert tumor-suppressive effects in certain scenarios, and DMBT1/galectin-3-mediated differentiation represents a candidate mechanism for this effect.
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PMID:Frequent downregulation of DMBT1 and galectin-3 in epithelial skin cancer. 1267 72

An in-depth knowledge of the host molecules and biological pathways that contribute towards the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria would help guide the development of novel prognostics and therapeutics. Genome-wide transcriptional profiling of the brain tissue during experimental cerebral malaria (ECM ) caused by Plasmodium berghei ANKA parasites in mice, a well established surrogate of human cerebral malaria, has been useful in predicting the functional classes of genes involved and pathways altered during the course of disease. To further understand the contribution of individual genes to the pathogenesis of ECM, we examined the biological relevance of three molecules -- CD14, galectin-3, and OX40 that were previously shown to be overexpressed during ECM. We find that CD14 plays a predominant role in the induction of ECM and regulation of parasite density; deletion of the CD14 gene not only prevented the onset of disease in a majority of susceptible mice (only 21% of CD14-deficient compared to 80% of wildtype mice developed ECM, p<0.0004) but also had an ameliorating effect on parasitemia (a 2 fold reduction during the cerebral phase). Furthermore, deletion of the galectin-3 gene in susceptible C57BL/6 mice resulted in partial protection from ECM (47% of galectin-3-deficient versus 93% of wildtype mice developed ECM, p<0.0073). Subsequent adherence assays suggest that galectin-3 induced pathogenesis of ECM is not mediated by the recognition and binding of galectin-3 to P. berghei ANKA parasites. A previous study of ECM has demonstrated that brain infiltrating T cells are strongly activated and are CD44(+)CD62L(-) differentiated memory T cells [1]. We find that OX40, a marker of both T cell activation and memory, is selectively upregulated in the brain during ECM and its distribution among CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells accumulated in the brain vasculature is approximately equal.
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PMID:Pathogenic roles of CD14, galectin-3, and OX40 during experimental cerebral malaria in mice. 1971 Sep 7

The tumor microenvironment encompasses several stressful conditions for cancer cells such as hypoxia, oxidative stress and pH alterations. Galectin-3, a well-studied member of the beta-galactoside-binding animal family of lectins has been implicated in multiple steps of metastasis as cell-cell and cell-ECM adhesion, promotion of angiogenesis, cell proliferation and resistance to apoptosis. However, both its aberrantly up- and down-regulated expression was observed in several types of cancer. Thus, the mechanisms that regulate galectin-3 expression in neoplastic settings are not clear. In order to demonstrate the putative role of hypoxia in regulating galectin-3 expression in canine mammary tumors (CMT), in vitro and in vivo studies were performed. In malignant CMT cells, hypoxia was observed to induce expression of galectin-3, a phenomenon that was almost completely prevented by catalase treatment of CMT-U27 cells. Increased galectin-3 expression was confirmed at the mRNA level. Under hypoxic conditions the expression of galectin-3 shifts from a predominant nuclear location to cytoplasmic and membrane expressions. In in vivo studies, galectin-3 was overexpressed in hypoxic areas of primary tumors and well-established metastases. Tumor hypoxia thus up-regulates the expression of galectin-3, which may in turn increase tumor aggressiveness.
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PMID:Hypoxia Up-Regulates Galectin-3 in Mammary Tumor Progression and Metastasis. 2622 11