Nucling is a novel apoptosis-associated molecule, which is involved with cytochrome c /Apaf-1/caspase-9 apoptosome induction following pro-apoptotic stress. In the present study, we show first that Nucling is able to interact with galectin-3. Galectin-3 is known to participate in many biological processes, including apoptotic cell death. Nucling was found to down-regulate the expression level o...

Previously, we showed that galectin-1 and galectin-3 are redundant pre-mRNA splicing factors associated with the spliceosome throughout the splicing pathway. Here we present evidence for the association of galectin-3 with snRNPs outside of the spliceosome (i.e., in the absence of pre-mRNA splicing substrate). Immunoprecipitation of HeLa nuclear extract with anti-galectin-3 resulted in the copre...

We showed that the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α by macrophages in response to Toxoplasma gondii glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs) requires the expression of both Toll-like receptors TLR2 and TLR4, but not of their co-receptor CD14. Galectin-3 is a β-galactoside-binding protein with immune-regulatory effects, which associates with TLR2. We demonstrate here by using the surface ...

PURPOSE Previous studies have suggested that galectins may be involved in retinal adhesion and photoreceptor cell survival. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, the authors isolated retinal galectins, determined their types and distributions, and investigated the validity of the hypothesis, using rat models. METHODS An antibody was prepared against a bovine retinal lectin that was isolated...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of growth/adhesion-regulatory lectins in the prognosis of the stage II non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLCs) via quantitative lectinhistochemical examinations and measurement of microvascularization of the tumour. METHODS In 94 radically operated lung cancer patients, stage II NSCLC was confirmed histologically (T1N1: 6, T2N1: 66, T3N0: 22). Immunohistochem...

The mutational analysis of the galectin family is shedding a different light of this class of molecules. On the one hand, it appears that galectin 1 and galectin 3 are not required for the survival of mice in normal animal house conditions, while on the other hand, there seems to be several subtle, but very complex, consequences of lacking galectins during development.

Doxazosin, a drug commonly prescribed for hypertension and prostate disease, increases heart failure risk. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Galectin-3 is an important mediator that plays a pathogenic role in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. In the present study, we investigated whether doxazosin could stimulate galectin-3 expression and collagen synthesis in cultured HL-...

Thymic epithelial cells play a crucial role in the selection of developing thymocytes. Thymocyte-epithelial cell interactions involve a number of adhesion molecules, including members of the integrin and immunoglobulin superfamilies. We found that human thymic epithelial cells synthesize an endogenous lectin, galectin-1, which binds to oligosaccharide ligands on the surface of thymocytes and T ...