Turning 'sweet' on immunity: galectin-glycan interactions in immune tolerance and inflammation - PubMed (original) (raw)

Review

doi: 10.1038/nri2536.

Affiliations

Review

Turning 'sweet' on immunity: galectin-glycan interactions in immune tolerance and inflammation

Gabriel A Rabinovich et al. Nat Rev Immunol. 2009 May.

Abstract

The function of deciphering the biological information encoded by the glycome, which is the entire repertoire of complex sugar structures expressed by cells and tissues, is assigned in part to endogenous glycan-binding proteins or lectins. Galectins, a family of animal lectins that bind N-acetyllactosamine-containing glycans, have many roles in diverse immune cell processes, including those relevant to pathogen recognition, shaping the course of adaptive immune responses and fine-tuning the inflammatory response. How do galectins translate glycan-encoded information into tolerogenic or inflammatory cell programmes? An improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying these functions will provide further opportunities for developing new therapies based on the immunoregulatory properties of this multifaceted protein family.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. J Biol Chem. 2003 Jun 20;278(25):22223-30 - PubMed
    1. Cell Death Differ. 2000 Aug;7(8):747-53 - PubMed
    1. Cancer Res. 2007 Jul 1;67(13):6155-62 - PubMed
    1. Mol Immunol. 2007 Feb;44(6):1274-85 - PubMed
    1. Eur J Immunol. 1998 Aug;28(8):2311-9 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources