Laboratorio de Inmunopatología, Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (IBYME), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), C1428ADN Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), C1428EGA Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Biochem J. 2021 Feb 12;478(3):597-617. doi: 10.1042/BCJ20200167.
A sequence of interconnected events known as the metastatic cascade promotes tumor progression by regulating cellular and molecular interactions between tumor, stromal, endothelial, and immune cells both locally and systemically. Recently, a new concept has emerged to better describe this process by defining four attributes that metastatic cells should undergo. Every individual hallmark represents a unique trait of a metastatic cell that impacts directly in the outcome of the metastasis process. These critical features, known as the hallmarks of metastasis, include motility and invasion, modulation of the microenvironment, cell plasticity and colonization. They are hierarchically regulated at different levels by several factors, including galectins, a highly conserved family of β-galactoside-binding proteins abundantly expressed in tumor microenvironments and sites of metastasis. In this review, we discuss the role of galectins in modulating each hallmark of metastasis, highlighting novel therapeutic opportunities for treating the metastatic disease.
一系列相互关联的事件被称为转移级联，通过调节肿瘤、基质、内皮和免疫细胞之间的细胞和分子相互作用，在局部和全身促进肿瘤进展。最近，出现了一个新概念，可以通过定义转移细胞应该经历的四个属性来更好地描述这个过程。每个标志性特征代表转移细胞的一个独特特征，直接影响转移过程的结果。这些关键特征，称为转移的标志性特征，包括运动性和侵袭性、微环境的调节、细胞可塑性和定植。它们在不同水平上受到包括半乳糖凝集素在内的多种因素的层次调节，半乳糖凝集素是一类高度保守的β-半乳糖苷结合蛋白家族，在肿瘤微环境和转移部位广泛表达。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了半乳糖凝集素在调节转移标志性特征中的作用，强调了治疗转移性疾病的新的治疗机会。
