INTEGRATING STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF 'TANDEM-REPEAT' GALECTINS.

MARÍA F. TRONCOSO; MARÍA T. ELOLA; CROCI, DIEGO O.;; GABRIEL A. RABINOVICH

Frontiers in bioscience

Searington, NY : Frontiers in bioscience

Año: 2012 p. 864 - 887

1945-0516

Galectins (GALs) are evolutionarily-conserved lectins defined by at least one carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) with affinity for beta-galactosides and conserved sequence motifs. Although the biological roles of some members of this family, including the ´proto-type´ GAL-1 and the ´chimera-type´ GAL-3 have been widely studied, the functions of ´tandem-repeat´ galectins are just emerging. The subgroup of ´tandem-repeat´ galectins (GAL-4, -6, -8, -9, and -12) contain two distinct CRDs, connected by a linker peptide. Here we integrated and distilled the available information on ´tandem-repeat´ galectins, their specific structures, potential ligands and biological activities in inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. While GAL-4 has been implicated in inflammatory bowel diseases, either as a pro-inflammatory or pro-apoptotic mediator, GAL-8 plays roles in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus and modulates tumor progression. GAL-9 controls allergic inflammation and Th1/Th17-mediated autoimmunity and has prognostic value in certain tumor types. Finally, GAL-12 plays important roles in adipocyte physiology. Although this information is just emerging, further studies are needed to dissect the biological roles of ´tandem-repeat´ galectins in health and disease.