Ochieng Josiah, Furtak Vyacheslav, Lukyanov Pavel
Department of Biochemistry, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208, USA.
Glycoconj J. 2002;19(7-9):527-35. doi: 10.1023/B:GLYC.0000014082.99675.2f.
Galectin-3 has been suspected of modulating cell to extracellular matrix interactions in a novel fashion ever since it was first described. However, the rapid accumulation of research data in just the last 8 years alone has completely changed our perspective of this multifunctional protein. Its chimeric nature (consists of carbohydrate recognition and collagen like domains) somehow makes it suited to interact with a plethora of interesting extracellular matrix proteins some of which might enable it to cross the plasma membrane despite its lack of appropriate signal peptides. It is now becoming established as a mediator of signal transduction events on the cell surface as well as a mediator of a variety of extra-cellular processes such as kidney development, angiogenesis, neuronal functions, tumor metastasis, autoimmune disorders, endocytosis and possibly exocytosis. Nevertheless, it still retains its unique position as a mediator/modulator of cell to extracellular matrix adhesive interactions. Cells, particularly epithelial cells which lack galectin-3 expression, interact poorly with their extracellular matrices. In some of these processes, it functions as a matricellular protein, displaying both pro- and anti-adhesive properties.
自首次被描述以来，半乳糖凝集素-3就被怀疑以一种全新的方式调节细胞与细胞外基质的相互作用。然而，仅在过去8年里迅速积累的研究数据就彻底改变了我们对这种多功能蛋白质的看法。它的嵌合性质（由碳水化合物识别结构域和胶原样结构域组成）使其在某种程度上适合与大量有趣的细胞外基质蛋白相互作用，其中一些蛋白可能使它能够穿越质膜，尽管它缺乏合适的信号肽。现在，它已被确立为细胞表面信号转导事件的介质，以及多种细胞外过程的介质，如肾脏发育、血管生成、神经元功能、肿瘤转移、自身免疫性疾病、内吞作用以及可能的外排作用。尽管如此，它作为细胞与细胞外基质黏附相互作用的介质/调节剂，仍然保持着独特的地位。细胞，尤其是缺乏半乳糖凝集素-3表达的上皮细胞，与它们的细胞外基质相互作用不佳。在其中一些过程中，它作为一种基质细胞蛋白发挥作用，兼具促黏附和抗黏附特性。
