Galectins-3 and -7, but not galectin-1, play a role in re-epithelialization of wounds.
Disorders of wound healing characterized by impaired or delayed re-epithelialization are a serious medical problem. These conditions affect many tissues, are painful, and are difficult to treat. In this study, using cornea as a model, we demonstrate for the first time the importance of carbohydrate-binding proteins galectins-3 and -7 in re-epithelialization of wounds. In two different models of corneal wound healing, re-epithelialization of wounds was significantly slower in galectin-3-deficient (gal3(-/-)) mice compared with wild-type (gal3(+/+)) mice. In contrast, there was no difference in corneal epithelial wound closure rates between galectin-1-deficient and wild-type mice. Quantitation of the bromodeoxyuridine-labeled cells in gal3(+/+) and gal3(-/-) corneas revealed that corneal epithelial cell proliferation rate is not perturbed in gal3(-/-) corneas. Exogenous galectin-3 accelerated re-epithelialization of wounds in gal3(+/+) mice but, surprisingly, not in the gal3(-/-) mice. Gene expression analysis using cDNA microarrays revealed that healing corneas of gal3(-/-) mice contain markedly reduced levels of galectin-7 compared with those of gal3(+/+) mice. More importantly, unlike galectin-3, galectin-7 accelerated re-epithelialization of wounds in both gal3(-/-) and gal3(+/+) mice. In corresponding experiments, recombinant galectin-1 did not stimulate the corneal epithelial wound closure rate. The extent of acceleration of re-epithelialization of wounds with both galectin-3 and galectin-7 was greater than that observed in most of the published studies using growth factors. These findings have broad implications for developing novel therapeutic strategies for treating nonhealing wounds.
Cao
Zhiyi
Z
Department of Ophthalmology, Center for Vision Research and The New England Eye Center, Davis, California 95616, USA.
Said
Neveen
N
Amin
Shalin
S
Wu
Helen K
HK
Bruce
Amenda
A
Garate
Marco
M
Hsu
Daniel K
DK
Kuwabara
Ichiro
I
Liu
Fu-Tong
FT
Panjwani
Noorjahan
N
D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002455:Cell Division; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000502:physiology*; D037483:Galectin 1 / Q000502:physiology*; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000502:physiology*; D037161:Galectins / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*
D037483:Galectin 1; D037502:Galectin 3; D037161:Galectins; C490487:Lgals7 protein, mouse