The sweet escape: galectins, glycosylation and tumor-immune escape

GABRIEL A. RABINOVICH

Córdoba, Argentina

Congreso; VII Latin American Congress of Immunology ALAI 2005; 2005

Latin American Society of Immunology

THE SWEET ESCAPE: GALECTINS, GLYCOSYLATION AND TUMOR-IMMUNE ESCAPE Gabriel A. Rabinovich Lab. Inmunogenética, Hospital de Clínicas “José de San Martín”. FMED. UBA   In recent years, one of the most important insights into tumor immunity was provided by the identification of negative regulatory pathways and immune escape strategies that, by counteracting tumor effector mechanisms, greatly influence the magnitude of antitumor responses. Galectin-1, a b-galactoside-binding protein with immune regulatory functions, is expressed by many different tumor types, and its expression correlates with the aggressiveness of these tumors and the acquisition of metastatic phenotypes. We will discuss recent findings related to the contribution of Gal-1 to tumor immune privilege and its ability to modulate T cell survival and polarization in vitro and in vivo.  Our data provide a novel molecular target for manipulation of T-cell tolerance and apoptosis with profound implications for cancer immunotherapy.