Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui,China.
Department of Rheumatology, Anqing Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Anqing, Anhui,China.
Curr Pharm Des. 2022;28(1):36-45. doi: 10.2174/1381612827666210927164935.
Galectins are a highly conserved protein family that binds to β-galactosides. Different members of this family play a variety of biological functions in physiological and pathological processes such as angiogenesis, regulation of immune cell activity, and cell adhesion. Galectins are widely distributed and play a vital role both inside and outside cells. They can regulate homeostasis and immune function in vivo through mechanisms such as apoptosis. Recent studies have indicated that galectins exhibit pleiotropic roles in inflammation. Furthermore, emerging studies have found that galectins are involved in the occurrence and development of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), type 1 diabetes (T1D), and systemic sclerosis (SSc) by regulating cell adhesion, apoptosis, and other mechanisms. This review will briefly discuss the biological characteristics of the two most widely expressed and extensively explored members of the galectin family, galectin-1 and galectin-3, as well as their pathogenetic and therapeutic roles in autoimmune diseases. This information may provide a novel and promising therapeutic target for autoimmune diseases.
半乳糖凝集素是一个高度保守的蛋白家族，能与β-半乳糖苷结合。该家族的不同成员在生理和病理过程中发挥着多种生物学功能，如血管生成、免疫细胞活性调节和细胞黏附。半乳糖凝集素广泛分布，在细胞内外均发挥重要作用。它们可以通过凋亡等机制调节体内的稳态和免疫功能。最近的研究表明，半乳糖凝集素在炎症中表现出多种作用。此外，新的研究发现，半乳糖凝集素通过调节细胞黏附、凋亡等机制，参与系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）、类风湿关节炎（RA）、1 型糖尿病（T1D）和系统性硬皮病（SSc）等自身免疫性疾病的发生和发展。本综述将简要讨论半乳糖凝集素家族中表达最广泛、研究最深入的两个成员——半乳糖凝集素-1 和半乳糖凝集素-3 的生物学特性，以及它们在自身免疫性疾病中的发病机制和治疗作用。这些信息可能为自身免疫性疾病提供一个新颖而有前途的治疗靶点。
