title: Galectin-4 and galectin-6 are two closely related lectins expressed in mouse gastrointestinal tract.
abstract: Galectins are a family of carbohydrate-binding proteins that share a conserved sequence and affinity for beta-galactosides. Some, such as galectin-1, are isolated as dimers and have a single carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) in each monomer, whereas others, such as galectin-4, are isolated as monomers and have two CRDs in a single polypeptide chain. In the course of studying mouse colon mRNA for galectin-4, we detected a related mRNA that encodes a new galectin that also has two CRDs in a single peptide chain. The new galectin, galectin-6, lacks a 24-amino acid stretch in the link region between the two CRDs that is present in galectin-4. Otherwise, these two galectins have 83% amino acid identity. Expression of both galectin-4 and galectin-6 is confined to the epithelial cells of the embryonic and adult gastrointestinal tract. Galectin-4 is expressed at about equal levels in colon and small intestine but much less in stomach, whereas galectin-6 is expressed at about equal levels throughout the gastrointestinal tract.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0984, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gitt
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colnot
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Poirier
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Nani
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Barondes
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leffler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D003106:Colon / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D004064:Digestive System / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D037541:Galectin 4; D037161:Galectins; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000378:metabolism; D037102:Lectins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011247:Pregnancy; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D037541:Galectin 4; D037161:Galectins; D006388:Hemagglutinins; D037102:Lectins; C110383:Lgals6 protein, mouse; D012333:RNA, Messenger