GALECTIN-1 EXPRESSION IN TUMORS AND ITS ROLE IN CANCER CELL ADHESION
D. Demydenko
Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Center of Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary
Abstract. Galectin-1 is a lectin with specificity for beta-galactosides. It is known to participate in cell adhesion, cell cycle regulation, and apoptosis. Since it was found upregulated in some cancers the questions were raised whether it can be used as tumor marker during cancer diagnostics and what is its function in tumor cells. Many types of malignancies were studied for galectin-1 expression in comparison to normal cells. Together with this attempts were made to explain galectin-1 function in tumors, keeping in mind already known role of galectin-1 in normal tissues. Accumulated experimental data on galectin-1 expression in tumors, and its participation in tumor cells adhesion are reviewed.
