Nandor Gabor Than, Roberto Romero, Andrea Balogh, Eva Karpati, Salvatore Andrea Mastrolia, Orna Staretz-Chacham, Sinuhe Hahn, Offer Erez, Zoltan Papp, Chong Jai Kim
J Pathol Transl Med. 2015;49(3):181-208. Published online May 15, 2015
Galectins are an evolutionarily ancient and widely expressed family of lectins that have unique glycan-binding characteristics. They are pleiotropic regulators of key biological processes, such as cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, signal transduction, and pre-mRNA splicing, as well as homo- and heterotypic cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. Galectins are also pivotal in immune responses since they regulate host-pathogen interactions, innate and adaptive immune responses, acute and chronic inflammation, and immune tolerance. Some galectins are also central to the regulation of angiogenesis, cell migration and invasion. Expression and functional data provide convincing evidence that, due to these functions, galectins play key roles in shared and unique pathways of normal embryonic and placental development as well as oncodevelopmental processes in tumorigenesis. Therefore, galectins may sometimes act as double-edged swords since they have beneficial but also harmful effects for the organism. Recent advances facilitate the use of galectins as biomarkers in obstetrical syndromes and in various malignancies, and their therapeutic applications are also under investigation. This review provides a general overview of galectins and a focused review of this lectin subfamily in the context of inflammation, infection and tumors of the female reproductive tract as well as in normal pregnancies and those complicated by the great obstetrical syndromes.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
The functional roles of protein glycosylation in human maternal–fetal crosstalk Jiangming Zhong, Jianlin Li, Graham J Burton, Hannu Koistinen, Ka Wang Cheung, Ernest H Y Ng, Yuanqing Yao, William S B Yeung, Cheuk-Lun Lee, Philip C N Chiu Human Reproduction Update.2024; 30(1): 81. CrossRef
Decreased Expression of Placental Proteins in Recurrent Pregnancy Loss: Functional Relevance and Diagnostic Value Eszter Tóth, Dániel Györffy, Máté Posta, Petronella Hupuczi, Andrea Balogh, Gábor Szalai, Gergő Orosz, László Orosz, András Szilágyi, Orsolya Oravecz, Lajos Veress, Sándor Nagy, Olga Török, Padma Murthi, Offer Erez, Zoltán Papp, Nándor Ács, Nándor Gábor T International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2024; 25(3): 1865. CrossRef
Surface-Conjugated Galactose on Electrospun Polycaprolactone Nanofibers: An Innovative Scaffold for Uterine Tissue Engineering Srividya Hanuman, Harish Kumar B, K. Sreedhara Ranganath Pai, Manasa Nune ACS Omega.2024; 9(32): 34314. CrossRef
Is human labor at term an inflammatory condition? Chandrashekara Kyathanahalli, Madeline Snedden, Emmet Hirsch Biology of Reproduction.2023; 108(1): 23. CrossRef
Roles of N-linked glycosylation and glycan-binding proteins in placentation: trophoblast infiltration, immunomodulation, angiogenesis, and pathophysiology Zhengyuan Huang, Pei F. Lai, Alexander T. H. Cocker, Stuart M. Haslam, Anne Dell, Hugh J. M. Brady, Mark R. Johnson Biochemical Society Transactions.2023; 51(2): 639. CrossRef
Placental galectins regulate innate and adaptive immune responses in pregnancy Orsolya Oravecz, Roberto Romero, Eszter Tóth, Judit Kapitány, Máté Posta, Dahiana M. Gallo, Simona W. Rossi, Adi L. Tarca, Offer Erez, Zoltán Papp, János Matkó, Nándor Gábor Than, Andrea Balogh Frontiers in Immunology.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Proteoglycans: Systems-Level Insight into Their Expression in Healthy and Diseased Placentas Orsolya Oravecz, Andrea Balogh, Roberto Romero, Yi Xu, Kata Juhasz, Zsolt Gelencser, Zhonghui Xu, Gaurav Bhatti, Roger Pique-Regi, Balint Peterfia, Petronella Hupuczi, Ilona Kovalszky, Padma Murthi, Adi L. Tarca, Zoltan Papp, Janos Matko, Nandor Gabor Tha International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2022; 23(10): 5798. CrossRef
Evolution of Placental Hormones: Implications for Animal Models Anthony M. Carter Frontiers in Endocrinology.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Possible important roles of galectins in the healing of human fetal membranes Jia-Le Chen, Yu Chen, De-Xiang Xu, Dao-Zhen Chen Frontiers in Endocrinology.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Galectin-1 and Galectin-9 Concentration in Maternal Serum: Implications in Pregnancies Complicated with Preterm Prelabor Rupture of Membranes Dorota Grażyna Boroń, Aleksy Świetlicki, Michał Potograbski, Grażyna Kurzawińska, Przemysław Wirstlein, Daniel Boroń, Krzysztof Drews, Agnieszka Seremak-Mrozikiewicz Journal of Clinical Medicine.2022; 11(21): 6330. CrossRef
Galectin-7 dysregulates renin-angiotensin-aldosterone and NADPH oxide synthase pathways in preeclampsia Ellen Menkhorst, Wei Zhou, Leilani Santos, Jian-Guo Zhang, Yves St-Pierre, Morag J. Young, Evdokia Dimitriadis Pregnancy Hypertension.2022; 30: 130. CrossRef
A természetes ölősejtek szerepe az anyai-magzati immunhomeostasis fenntartásában Kornél Lakatos, Kevin M. Elias, Ross S. Berkowitz, Kathleen Hasselblatt, György Végh, Vilmos Fülöp Orvosi Hetilap.2022; 163(19): 734. CrossRef
Galectin-1 expression in the serum and placenta of pregnant women with fetal growth restriction and its significance Xiao-Xiao Jin, Xiang Ying, Min-Yue Dong BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
Medawar’s PostEra: Galectins Emerged as Key Players During Fetal-Maternal Glycoimmune Adaptation Ellen Menkhorst, Nandor Gabor Than, Udo Jeschke, Gabriela Barrientos, Laszlo Szereday, Gabriela Dveksler, Sandra M. Blois Frontiers in Immunology.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
Maternal serum galectin-1 and galectin-3 levels in pregnancies complicated with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes Başak Kaya, Uğur Turhan, Salim Sezer, Serdar Kaya, İsmail Dağ, Ahmet Tayyar The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine.2020; 33(5): 861. CrossRef
Galectin-1 ameliorates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury via AMPK-Nrf2 pathway in mice Xiao-Ting Huang, Wei Liu, Yong Zhou, Mei Sun, Hui-Hui Yang, Chen-Yu Zhang, Si-Yuan Tang Free Radical Biology and Medicine.2020; 146: 222. CrossRef
Oral Administration of Fucoidan Can Exert Anti-Allergic Activity after Allergen Sensitization by Enhancement of Galectin-9 Secretion in Blood Masashi Mizuno, Kana Sakaguchi, Iwao Sakane Biomolecules.2020; 10(2): 258. CrossRef
Different Expression Pattern of TIM-3 and Galectin-9 Molecules by Peripheral and Peritoneal Lymphocytes in Women with and without Endometriosis Matyas Meggyes, Laszlo Szereday, Noemi Bohonyi, Miklos Koppan, Sarolta Szegedi, Anna Marics-Kutas, Mirjam Marton, Anett Totsimon, Beata Polgar International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2020; 21(7): 2343. CrossRef
Glycan characterization of pregnancy-specific glycoprotein 1 and its identification as a novel Galectin-1 ligand Mirian Mendoza, Dongli Lu, Angela Ballesteros, Sandra M Blois, Kelsey Abernathy, Chiguang Feng, Charles J Dimitroff, Jonathan Zmuda, Maria Panico, Anne Dell, Gerardo R Vasta, Stuart M Haslam, Gabriela Dveksler Glycobiology.2020; 30(11): 895. CrossRef
Characterisation of endogenous Galectin-1 and -9 expression in monocyte and macrophage subsets under resting and inflammatory conditions Franziska Krautter, Carlota Recio, Mohammed T. Hussain, Danielle R. Lezama, Francesco Maione, Myriam Chimen, Asif J. Iqbal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.2020; 130: 110595. CrossRef
Role of galectin-glycan circuits in reproduction: from healthy pregnancy to preterm birth (PTB) Sandra M. Blois, Stefan Verlohren, Gang Wu, Gary Clark, Anne Dell, Stuart M. Haslam, Gabriela Barrientos Seminars in Immunopathology.2020; 42(4): 469. CrossRef
Galectin-7 Impairs Placentation and Causes Preeclampsia Features in Mice Ellen Menkhorst, Wei Zhou, Leilani L. Santos, Sarah Delforce, Teresa So, Kate Rainczuk, Hannah Loke, Argyro Syngelaki, Swati Varshney, Nicholas Williamson, Kirsty Pringle, Morag J. Young, Kypros H. Nicolaides, Yves St-Pierre, Evdokia Dimitriadis Hypertension.2020; 76(4): 1185. CrossRef
Increased placental expression of Placental Protein 5 (PP5) / Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2) in women with preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome: Relevance to impaired trophoblast invasion? Katalin Karaszi, Szilvia Szabo, Kata Juhasz, Peter Kiraly, Barbara Kocsis-Deak, Beata Hargitai, Tibor Krenacs, Petronella Hupuczi, Offer Erez, Zoltan Papp, Ilona Kovalszky, Nandor Gabor Than Placenta.2019; 76: 30. CrossRef
Tacrolimus treatment for infertility related to maternal‐fetal immune interactions Koushi Yamaguchi American Journal of Reproductive Immunology.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
Human trophoblast requires galectin-3 for cell migration and invasion Ž. Bojić-Trbojević, M. Jovanović Krivokuća, A. Vilotić, N. Kolundžić, I. Stefanoska, F. Zetterberg, U. J. Nilsson, H. Leffler, Lj. Vićovac Scientific Reports.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
Pregnancy Galectinology: Insights Into a Complex Network of Glycan Binding Proteins Sandra M. Blois, Gabriela Dveksler, Gerardo R. Vasta, Nancy Freitag, Véronique Blanchard, Gabriela Barrientos Frontiers in Immunology.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
Placental Galectins Are Key Players in Regulating the Maternal Adaptive Immune Response Andrea Balogh, Eszter Toth, Roberto Romero, Katalin Parej, Diana Csala, Nikolett L. Szenasi, Istvan Hajdu, Kata Juhasz, Arpad F. Kovacs, Hamutal Meiri, Petronella Hupuczi, Adi L. Tarca, Sonia S. Hassan, Offer Erez, Peter Zavodszky, Janos Matko, Zoltan Pap Frontiers in Immunology.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
Galectin 13 (PP13) Facilitates Remodeling and Structural Stabilization of Maternal Vessels during Pregnancy Marei Sammar, Tijana Drobnjak, Maurizio Mandala, Sveinbjörn Gizurarson, Berthold Huppertz, Hamutal Meiri International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2019; 20(13): 3192. CrossRef
Differential gene expression in bovine endometrial epithelial cells after challenge with LPS; specific implications for genes involved in embryo maternal interactions Yongzhi Guo, Tom van Schaik, Naveed Jhamat, Adnan Niazi, Metasu Chanrot, Gilles Charpigny, Jean Francois Valarcher, Erik Bongcam-Rudloff, Göran Andersson, Patrice Humblot, Peter J. Hansen PLOS ONE.2019; 14(9): e0222081. CrossRef
The Impact of Natural Selection on the Evolution and Function of Placentally Expressed Galectins Zackery A Ely, Jiyun M Moon, Gregory R Sliwoski, Amandeep K Sangha, Xing-Xing Shen, Abigail L Labella, Jens Meiler, John A Capra, Antonis Rokas, Soojin Yi Genome Biology and Evolution.2019; 11(9): 2574. CrossRef
Dysregulation of Placental Functions and Immune Pathways in Complete Hydatidiform Moles Jennifer R. King, Melissa L. Wilson, Szabolcs Hetey, Peter Kiraly, Koji Matsuo, Antonio V. Castaneda, Eszter Toth, Tibor Krenacs, Petronella Hupuczi, Paulette Mhawech-Fauceglia, Andrea Balogh, Andras Szilagyi, Janos Matko, Zoltan Papp, Lynda D. Roman, Vic International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2019; 20(20): 4999. CrossRef
The emerging role of galectins in high-fatality cancers Cherylane Dubé-Delarosbil, Yves St-Pierre Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences.2018; 75(7): 1215. CrossRef
Dissecting the Structure–Activity Relationship of Galectin–Ligand Interactions Yi-Chen Chan, Hsien-Ya Lin, Zhijay Tu, Yen-Hsi Kuo, Shang-Te Hsu, Chun-Hung Lin International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2018; 19(2): 392. CrossRef
The link between immunity, autoimmunity and endometriosis: a literature update Tao Zhang, Caterina De Carolis, Gene Chi Wai Man, Chi Chiu Wang Autoimmunity Reviews.2018; 17(10): 945. CrossRef
Systemic expression of galectin genes in periparturient goats Kingsley Ekwemalor, Sarah Adjei-Fremah, Emmanuel Asiamah, Egbogoye Eluka-Okoludoh, Bertha Osei, Mulumebet Worku Small Ruminant Research.2018; 168: 60. CrossRef
Body Mass Index Impact and Predictability on Preeclamptic Toxemia AbdAllah Khaled M Journal of Gynecological Research and Obstetrics.2018; : 009. CrossRef
The association between oxidative stress-induced galectins and differentiation of human promyelocytic HL-60 cells James R. Vinnai, Robert C. Cumming, Graham J. Thompson, Alexander V. Timoshenko Experimental Cell Research.2017; 355(2): 113. CrossRef
Characteristic Changes in Decidual Gene Expression Signature in Spontaneous Term Parturition Haidy El-Azzamy, Andrea Balogh, Roberto Romero, Yi Xu, Christopher LaJeunesse, Olesya Plazyo, Zhonghui Xu, Theodore G. Price, Zhong Dong, Adi L. Tarca, Zoltan Papp, Sonia S. Hassan, Tinnakorn Chaiworapongsa, Chong Jai Kim, Nardhy Gomez-Lopez, Nandor Gabor Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine.2017; 51(3): 264. CrossRef
Personalized Therapy Against Preeclampsia by Replenishing Placental Protein 13 (PP13) Targeted to Patients With Impaired PP13 Molecule or Function Hamutal Meiri, George Osol, Irene Cetin, Sveinbjörn Gizurarson, Berthold Huppertz Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal.2017; 15: 433. CrossRef
Intracellular galectin-7 expression in cancer cells results from an autocrine transcriptional mechanism and endocytosis of extracellular galectin-7 Nathalie Bibens-Laulan, Yves St-Pierre, Ivan R Nabi PLOS ONE.2017; 12(11): e0187194. CrossRef
Serum galectin-9 as a noninvasive biomarker for the detection of endometriosis and pelvic pain or infertility-related gynecologic disorders Reka Brubel, Attila Bokor, Akos Pohl, Gabriella Krisztina Schilli, Laszlo Szereday, Reka Bacher-Szamuel, Janos Rigo, Beata Polgar Fertility and Sterility.2017; 108(6): 1016. CrossRef
The relationship between cervical precancerous lesion galectin-3 and p27 protein expression and clinical prognosis Jianting Ma, Xingguang Zhang, Gang He, Chunlin Yang Oncology Letters.2017;[Epub] CrossRef
Development and Applications of Lectins as Biological Tools in Biomedical Research Xiuli Dan, Wenlong Liu, Tzi Bun Ng Medicinal Research Reviews.2016; 36(2): 221. CrossRef
The human fetoembryonic defense system hypothesis: Twenty years on Poh-Choo Pang, Stuart M. Haslam, Anne Dell, Gary F. Clark Molecular Aspects of Medicine.2016; 51: 71. CrossRef
A Human Lectin Microarray for Sperm Surface Glycosylation Analysis Yangyang Sun, Li Cheng, Yihua Gu, Aijie Xin, Bin Wu, Shumin Zhou, Shujuan Guo, Yin Liu, Hua Diao, Huijuan Shi, Guangyu Wang, Sheng-ce Tao Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.2016; 15(9): 2839. CrossRef
Fetal gender specific expression of tandem-repeat galectins in placental tissue from normally progressed human pregnancies and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) Stefan Hutter, Julia Knabl, Ulrich Andergassen, Doris Mayr, Simone Hofmann, Christina Kuhn, Sven Mahner, Petra Arck, Udo Jeschke Placenta.2015; 36(12): 1352. CrossRef