Department of Cancer Biology, The University of Texas at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2012 Sep;25(5):592-601. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-148X.2012.01026.x. Epub 2012 Jul 12.
Melanoma is the leading cause of skin cancer-related deaths, which is due in large part to its aggressive behavior, resistance to therapy, and ability to metastasize to multiple organs such as the lymph nodes, lung, and brain. Melanoma progresses in a stepwise manner from the benign nevus, to radial spreading through the dermis, to a vertical invasive phase, and finally to metastasis. The carbohydrate-binding family of galectins has a strong influence on each phase of melanoma progression through their effects on immune surveillance, angiogenesis, cell migration, tumor cell adhesion, and the cellular response to chemotherapy. Galectins share significant homology in their carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD), which mediates binding to an array of N-glycosylated proteins located on the surface of tumor cells, endothelial cells, T-cells, and to similarly glycosylated extracellular matrix proteins. Galectins are also present within tumor cells where they perform anti-apoptotic functions and enhance intracellular signaling that results in deregulated expression of genes involved in tumor progression. The most extensively studied galectins, galectin-1 and galectin-3, have been shown to have profound effects on melanoma growth and metastasis by influencing many of these biological processes.
黑色素瘤是皮肤癌相关死亡的主要原因，这在很大程度上是由于其侵袭性行为、对治疗的耐药性以及向多个器官（如淋巴结、肺和脑）转移的能力。黑色素瘤从良性痣逐步进展，通过真皮向放射性扩散，进入垂直侵袭阶段，最终转移。糖结合家族的半乳糖凝集素通过对免疫监视、血管生成、细胞迁移、肿瘤细胞黏附以及细胞对化疗的反应的影响，对黑色素瘤进展的每个阶段都有很强的影响。半乳糖凝集素在其碳水化合物识别结构域（CRD）中有很高的同源性，该结构域介导与位于肿瘤细胞、内皮细胞、T 细胞表面的一系列 N-糖基化蛋白以及类似糖基化的细胞外基质蛋白的结合。半乳糖凝集素也存在于肿瘤细胞内，在那里它们发挥抗细胞凋亡功能，并增强细胞内信号转导，导致参与肿瘤进展的基因表达失调。研究最广泛的半乳糖凝集素——半乳糖凝集素-1 和半乳糖凝集素-3——通过影响许多这些生物学过程，对黑色素瘤的生长和转移有深远的影响。
