The multifaceted roles of galectins: Glycan-binding proteins with multiple personalities

Abstract

Multiple personality disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by the spontaneous generation of alternate versions of self. The personalities have distinctive styles of expressing themselves, and they often possess separate names, living locations, and lifestyles. The transition from one personality to another is commonly triggered by environmental and interpersonal factors. Unlike many cellular molecules and pathways, which are often specialized, this concept could be certainly applied to galectins, an evolutionarily conserved family of glycan-binding proteins with multifunctional roles in immunity. These proteins often shuttle between different intracellular compartments (nucleus, cytoplasm, and organelles) and are released to the extracellular milieu, where they acquire different roles in response to diverse microenvironmental stimuli, including hypoxia, nutrient availability, intracellular and extracellular pH, cytokine milieu and the presence of proinflammatory or immunosuppressive signals. ...and more