Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza (IHEM), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.
Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.
Methods Mol Biol. 2022;2442:635-653. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2055-7_34.
Development of an aberrant vascular network is a hallmark of the multistep pathological process of tumor growth and metastasis. In response to hypoxia, several pro-angiogenic factors are synthesized to support vascularization programs required for cancer progression. Emerging data indicate the involvement of glycans and glycan-binding proteins as critical regulators of vascular circuits in health and disease. Galectins may be regulated by hypoxic conditions and control angiogenesis in different physiopathological settings. These β-galactoside-binding proteins may promote sprouting angiogenesis by interacting with different glycosylated receptors and triggering distinct signaling pathways. Understanding the role of galectins in tumor neovascularization will contribute to the design of novel anti-angiogenic therapies aimed at complementing current anti-cancer modalities and overcoming resistance to these treatments. Here we describe selected strategies and methods used to study the role of hypoxia-regulated galectins in the regulation of blood vessel formation.
异常血管网络的发展是肿瘤生长和转移多步骤病理过程的标志。为了应对缺氧，几种促血管生成因子被合成，以支持癌症进展所需的血管生成程序。新出现的数据表明，聚糖和糖结合蛋白作为健康和疾病中血管回路的关键调节剂的参与。半乳糖凝集素可能受到缺氧条件的调节，并在不同的生理病理环境中控制血管生成。这些β-半乳糖苷结合蛋白可以通过与不同糖基化受体相互作用并触发不同的信号通路来促进发芽血管生成。了解半乳糖凝集素在肿瘤新生血管形成中的作用将有助于设计新型抗血管生成疗法，旨在补充当前的抗癌方式，并克服对这些治疗的耐药性。在这里，我们描述了用于研究缺氧调节的半乳糖凝集素在调节血管形成中的作用的选定策略和方法。
