Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Via Gramsci, 14, 43126 Parma, Italy.
Hematology, "Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Parma", Via Gramsci, 14, 43126 Parma, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2017 Dec 17;18(12):2740. doi: 10.3390/ijms18122740.
Galectins are a family of lectins that bind β-galactose-containing glycoconjugates and are characterized by carbohydrate-recognition domains (CRDs). Galectins exploit several biological functions, including angiogenesis, regulation of immune cell activities and cell adhesion, in both physiological and pathological processes, as tumor progression. Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell (PC) malignancy characterized by the tight adhesion between tumoral PCs and bone marrow (BM) microenvironment, leading to the increase of PC survival and drug resistance, MM-induced neo-angiogenesis, immunosuppression and osteolytic bone lesions. In this review, we explore the expression profiles and the roles of galectin-1, galectin-3, galectin-8 and galectin-9 in the pathophysiology of MM. We focus on the role of these lectins in the interplay between MM and BM microenvironment cells showing their involvement in MM progression mainly through the regulation of PC survival and MM-induced angiogenesis and osteoclastogenesis. The translational impact of these pre-clinical pieces of evidence is supported by recent data that indicate galectins could be new attractive targets to block MM cell growth in vivo and by the evidence that the expression levels of and , genes encoding for galectin-1 and galectin-8 respectively, correlate to MM patients' survival.
半乳糖凝集素是一类能够结合含有β-半乳糖的糖缀合物的凝集素，其特征在于碳水化合物识别结构域（CRD）。半乳糖凝集素在生理和病理过程中发挥着多种生物学功能，包括血管生成、免疫细胞活性和细胞黏附的调节，如肿瘤进展。多发性骨髓瘤（MM）是一种浆细胞瘤（PC）恶性肿瘤，其特征是肿瘤性 PCs 与骨髓（BM）微环境之间的紧密黏附，导致 PC 存活和耐药性增加、MM 诱导的新血管生成、免疫抑制和溶骨性骨病变。在这篇综述中，我们探讨了半乳糖凝集素-1、半乳糖凝集素-3、半乳糖凝集素-8 和半乳糖凝集素-9 在 MM 病理生理学中的表达谱和作用。我们重点介绍了这些凝集素在 MM 与 BM 微环境细胞相互作用中的作用，表明它们通过调节 PC 存活和 MM 诱导的血管生成和破骨细胞生成，主要参与 MM 的进展。这些临床前证据的转化影响得到了最近的数据支持，这些数据表明半乳糖凝集素可以成为阻止 MM 细胞在体内生长的新的有吸引力的靶点，并且基因表达水平与 MM 患者的生存相关。
