Journal
WORLD JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY
Volume 14, Issue 33, Pages 5133-5137Publisher
BAISHIDENG PUBLISHING GROUP INC
DOI: 10.3748/wjg.14.5133
Keywords
galectin; inflammatory bowel disease; Crohn's disease; ulcerative colitis; pathogenesis; apoptosis; glycosylation
Categories
Funding
- NIDDK NIH HHS [DK64289, DK64351, R03 DK074454, R01 DK064351, K08 DK064289, DK74454] Funding Source: Medline
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Protein/carbohydrate interactions through specific protein families termed lectin control essential biological processes. Galectins, a family of animal lectins defined by shared amino acid sequence with affinity for beta-galactosides, appear to be functionally polyvalent in a wide range of biological activity. Recent studies have identified immunoregulatory roles of galectins in intestinal inflammatory disorders. Galectin-1 and galectin -2 contribute to the suppression of intestinal inflammation by the induction of apoptosis of activated T cells, whereas galectin-4 is involved in the exacerbation of this inflammation by specifically stimulating intestinal CD4+ T cells to produce IL-6. We review how different members of the galectins provide inhibitory or stimulatory signals to control intestinal immune response under intestinal inflammation. (c) 2008 The WJG Press. All rights reserved.
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