Galectin-7 in lymphoma:: Elevated expression in human lymphoid malignancies and decreased lymphoma dissemination by antisense strategies in experimental model

Galectin-7 is found mainly in stratified squamous epithelia as well as in various other types of cancer cells. As with other members of the galectin family, the expression of galectin-7 has been shown to negatively regulate the development of some tumors while correlating with the progression of other tumor types. For example, up-regulation of galectin-7 is associated with rat mammary carcinomas and with progression to T-cell malignancy. Here, we provide evidence indicating that galectin-7 functions as an important molecule in the dissemination of lymphoma cells in vivo. We found that stable transfection of lymphoma cells with a plasmid encoding antisense galectin-7 cDNA significantly inhibited the dissemination and invasion of lymphoma cells to peripheral organs, thereby increasing the survival of mice. We also found that inhibition of galectin-7 in aggressive lymphoma cells correlated with a decreased invasion of tumor cells in target organs and a reduced expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9, a gene associated with a poor prognosis in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. We finally examined the expression of galectin-7 in 50 specimens of different mature B-cell neoplasms and found high galectin-7 expression levels in a significant proportion of mature B-cell neoplasms but not in normal B cells. Taken together, these findings suggest that galectin-7 is a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of lymphoid malignancies.