Galectin-3

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Gene: maps to .
mRNA: size:
Protein: a member of the beta-galactoside-binding animal lectins. It has been implicated in tumor invasion and metastasis.

Cell lines:
- Galectin-3 was overexpressed in human breast carcinoma cell lines, and its influence on several cell features, including cellular homotypic and heterotypic interactions and cell survival was studied. No differences in various parameters related with cell growth features and proliferation were detected. By contrast, it was found that galectin-3 overexpressing cells, with respect to low galectin-3 expressing cells, exerted: (1) a significantly enhanced adhesion to laminin, fibronectin and vitronectin exerted both directly or via increased expression of specific integrins, e.g., alpha-4 and beta-7; (2) a remodeling of those cytoskeletal elements associated with cell spreading, i.e., microfilaments; (3) an enhanced survival upon exposure to different apoptotic stimuli, such as cytokine and radiation. Collectively, these results indicate that overexpression of galectin-3 may play a role in tumor cell invasion and metastasis by specifically influencing cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix. This may confer selective survival advantage and resistance to the particular homeless-induced apoptosis called anoikia (Matarrese P. et al., 2000).

Tumors:
- Using an immunoligand assay, the circulating levels of galectin-3 were assessed in sera from cancer patients as well as from healthy controls. Low serum levels of galectin-3 were detected in healthy individuals (median, 62 ng/ml; range, 20-313 ng/ml; 95th percentile, 184.3 ng/ml). Compared with healthy individuals, galectin-3 serum levels in patients with breast, gastrointestinal, lung, or ovarian cancer, melanoma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were significantly elevated (P = 0.014). Moreover, galectin-3 concentrations in sera from patients with metastatic disease were higher than in sera from patients with localized tumors (Iurisci I. et al., 2000).

Iurisci I. et al. (2000) Concentrations of galectin-3 in the sera of normal controls and cancer patients. Clin. Cancer Res. 6, 1389-1393.
Matarrese P. et al. (2000) Galectin-3 overexpression protects from apoptosis by improving cell adhesion properties. Int. J. Cancer 85, 545-554.

Under construction