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Galectin functions in cancer-associated inflammation and thrombosis.

ABSTRACT: Galectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that regulate many cellular functions including proliferation, adhesion, migration, and phagocytosis. Increasing experimental and clinical evidence indicates that galectins influence many steps of cancer development by inducing the recruitment of immune cells to the inflammatory sites and modulating the effector function of neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes. Recent studies described that different isoforms of galectins can induce platelet adhesion, aggregation, and granule release through the interaction with platelet-specific glycoproteins and integrins. Patients with cancer and/or deep-venous thrombosis have increased levels of galectins in the vasculature, suggesting that these proteins could be important contributors to cancer-associated inflammation and thrombosis. In this review, we summarize the pathological role of galectins in inflammatory and thrombotic events, influencing tumor progression and metastasis. We also discuss the potential of anti-cancer therapies targeting galectins in the pathological context of cancer-associated inflammation and thrombosis.

SUBMITTER: Kruk L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9981828 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Galectin functions in cancer-associated inflammation and thrombosis.

Kruk Linus L Braun Attila A Cosset Erika E Gudermann Thomas T Mammadova-Bach Elmina E

Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine 20230217

Galectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that regulate many cellular functions including proliferation, adhesion, migration, and phagocytosis. Increasing experimental and clinical evidence indicates that galectins influence many steps of cancer development by inducing the recruitment of immune cells to the inflammatory sites and modulating the effector function of neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes. Recent studies described that different isoforms of galectins can induce platelet adhesio ...[more]

PMID: 36873388

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Project description:Patients with cancer are at an increased risk of symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE). In addition, an increasing number of patients with incidental thromboembolic events have been recorded in clinical practice. Therapeutic anticoagulation is crucial to prevent thrombus progression and reduce risk of recurrence; however, this comes at the price of an increased bleeding risk, which necessitates a personalised approach to choose the most appropriate type of therapy. Over the last decade, low-molecular-weight heparin has been the preferred anticoagulant agent for patients with cancer-associated thrombosis due to better efficacy and similar safety profile compared with vitamin K antagonists. While direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) have emerged as new option for treatment of VTE in a general population, only limited data have been available specifically for patients with cancer until recently. Randomised, controlled trials have now been published, establishing DOAC as an alternative for the treatment of cancer-associated thrombosis. However, the improvement in the therapeutic armamentarium is accompanied by a number of special considerations. For instance, risk of bleeding is elevated in patients with cancer-associated VTE receiving DOAC, especially in certain tumour types (eg, gastrointestinal), and no guidance exists regarding their use in patients with severe thrombocytopaenia. Furthermore, DOAC are prone to certain drug-drug interactions and their effect might be altered due to nausea and vomiting in patients receiving chemotherapy. Here, we provide guidance on how to treat cancer-associated VTE and how new evidence from randomised controlled trials can be implemented in clinical practice. There are still clinical scenarios where robust evidence is lacking and treatment recommendations are based on extrapolations from other populations or expert opinion only. Therefore, additional research in special subpopulations is needed to optimise management of patients in challenging clinical scenarios.

Project description:Resistance to apoptosis induced by anti-cancer drugs is a major obstacle for the treatment of aggressive forms of breast cancer. Galectin-7 (gal-7) was recently shown to be specifically expressed in basal-like but not in luminal subtypes of human breast cancer.We generated a mutant form of gal-7 (R74S). Arginine 74 is the structural equivalent of arginine 186 found in human galectin-3. Mutation R186S was previously shown to abolish the biological function of galectin-3.Mutation of arginine 74 induced only limited and local changes to the gal-7 fold. Recombinant forms of R74S and wtgal-7 were also equally effective at forming dimers in solution. Analysis of the thermodynamic parameters by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) indicated, however, that binding of lactose to gal-7 was inhibited by the R74S mutation. Using confocal microscopy and electron microscopy, we confirmed the expression of gal-7 in the cytosolic and nuclear compartments of breast cancer cells and the ability of gal-7 to translocate to mitochondria. The mutation at position 74, however, greatly reduced the expression of gal-7 in the nuclear and mitochondrial compartments. Interestingly, cells expressing mutated gal-7 were equally if not even more resistant to drug-induced apoptosis when compared to cells expressing wtgal-7. We also found that both wtgal-7 and R74S inhibited dox-induced PARP-1 cleavage and p53 protein expression. The inhibition of p53 correlated with a decrease in p21 protein expression and CDKN1A mRNA. Furthermore, analysis of nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions showed that both wild type and R74S mutant gal-7 inhibited p53 nuclear translocation, possibly by increasing degradation of cytosolic p53.These findings pose a challenge to the paradigm that has guided the design of galectin-specific inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. This study suggests that targeting CRD-independent cytosolic gal-7 in breast cancer cells may be a valuable strategy for the treatment of this disease. Our study will thus complement efforts towards improving selectivity of targeted anticancer agents.

Dataset Information

Galectin functions in cancer-associated inflammation and thrombosis.

Publications

Galectin functions in cancer-associated inflammation and thrombosis.

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