An endogenous galectin expressed by adipose tissue promotes glycan-dependent angiogenesis

MALLER, SEBASTIAN M.; CAGNONI, ALEJANDRO J; PEREZ SAEZ, JUAN MANUEL; SIGAUT, LORENA; CROCI, DIEGO O.; SUNBLAD, VICTORIA; MARIÑO, KARINA VALERIA; RABINOVICH, GABRIEL A.

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunión Sociedades de Biociencias 2017; 2017

Sociedad Argentina de Inmunología

White adipose tissue (WAT) is conformed principally by adipocytes, among others cellular types. This adipocytes store energy in form of neutral lipids inside organelles called lipid droplets, consisting in a mono- o bi-layer of phospholipids and proteins. Galectin12 is a tandem repeat type Galectin (two different Carbohydrate Recognition Domain in the same polypeptide chain) with preferential expression in adipocyte lipid droplets and sebocytes, and which structure has not been experimentally determined yet. There is a correlation between the increase in the expression of Gal12 and the number of apoptotic cells in White Adipose Tissue, and mice deficient in Gal12 have reduced adipose tissue because their adipocytes presented diminished fat deposits, preventing the development of insulin resistance associated with increased body weight.The role of Gal12 in the adipose tissue and its immunological relevance remain unclear, so we decided to express, purify and characterize mGal12 as a useful tool for unravelling its biological function.