Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2009 May;9(5):338-52.
doi: 10.1038/nri2536.

Turning 'sweet' on immunity: galectin-glycan interactions in immune tolerance and inflammation

Gabriel A Rabinovich  1 , Marta A Toscano
Affiliations
Review

Turning 'sweet' on immunity: galectin-glycan interactions in immune tolerance and inflammation

Gabriel A Rabinovich et al. Nat Rev Immunol. 2009 May.

Abstract

The function of deciphering the biological information encoded by the glycome, which is the entire repertoire of complex sugar structures expressed by cells and tissues, is assigned in part to endogenous glycan-binding proteins or lectins. Galectins, a family of animal lectins that bind N-acetyllactosamine-containing glycans, have many roles in diverse immune cell processes, including those relevant to pathogen recognition, shaping the course of adaptive immune responses and fine-tuning the inflammatory response. How do galectins translate glycan-encoded information into tolerogenic or inflammatory cell programmes? An improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying these functions will provide further opportunities for developing new therapies based on the immunoregulatory properties of this multifaceted protein family.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. J Biol Chem. 2003 Jun 20;278(25):22223-30 - PubMed
    1. Cell Death Differ. 2000 Aug;7(8):747-53 - PubMed
    1. Cancer Res. 2007 Jul 1;67(13):6155-62 - PubMed
    1. Mol Immunol. 2007 Feb;44(6):1274-85 - PubMed
    1. Eur J Immunol. 1998 Aug;28(8):2311-9 - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources