Galectins in the mouse ovary: concomitant expression of galectin-3 and progesterone degradation enzyme (20alpha-HSD) in the corpus luteum.

Galectin, an animal lectin that recognizes beta-galactosides of glycoconjugates, is involved in multiple biological functions such as cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and signal transduction. The present study using in situ hybridization revealed the predominant expression of galectin-1 and galectin-3 in the mouse ovary. Galectin-1 mRNA was diffusely expressed in the ovarian stroma, including the interstitial glands and theca interna, and intensely expressed in the corpus luteum (CL) at particular stages of regression. Transcripts of galectin-3 were restricted to CL and always coincident to the expression of 20alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20alpha-HSD), a progesterone degradation enzyme. In the non-pregnant ovary, signals for both galectin-1 and -3 were intense in the old, regressing CL formed at previous estrous cycles. In the newly formed CL, the signal intensity of galectin-1 first increased at the starting point of regression followed by increasing galectin-3/20alpha-HSD expressions. Under gestation with active progesterone production, signals for both galectin-1 and -3 in CL completely disappeared. At the perinatal stage, intense expressions of galectin-3/20alpha-HSD recovered in the remaining CL of gestation with the temporal expression of galectin-1 and continued until weaning. These findings suggest that galectin-1 and -3 may mediate progesterone production and metabolism in luteal cells via different mechanisms.