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= a family of carbohydrate-binding proteins that recognize beta-galactosides.
Galectins were first identified in the mid-1970s, and currently, 15 mammalian galectins have been identified.
While all galectin members possess the carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) that interacts with beta-galactoside, their regulatory functions vary in different DNA or RNA virus infections.
More and more studies report on the roles that galectins play in numerous types of cancer. These roles can be varied, as has been shown particularly for galectin-3.
Since galectins bind beta-galactosides, monovalent galactose-derived inhibitors have been prepared but also peptidic ones have appeared.
Since galectins often induce crosslinking and partake in aggregation phenomena, multivalency has been a successful design element in inhibitor development.
Currently, there are no cheap and convenient solutions available for the detection of, ideally multiple, galectins in tissue samples, although antibody-based methods such as ELISA and Western blot analysis are being used. Besides these, a chemical probe-based method also shows potential as an alternative.
see also:
Cancer / Tumors & Galectin-3 (Gal-3)
Galectins & Influenza A virus / Influenza A virus infection