title: Galectin-9 in physiological and pathological conditions.
abstract: We first cloned galectin-9 (Gal-9)/ecalectin as a T cell-derived eosinophil chemoattractant. Gal-9 plays a role in not only accumulation but also activation of eosinophils in experimental allergic models and human allergic patients, because Gal-9 induces eosinophil chemoattraction in vitro and in vivo and activates eosinophils in many aspects. Gal-9 requires divalent galactoside-binding activity but not the linker peptide of Gal-9 to exhibit its biological functions, and an unidentified matrix metalloproteinase is involved in the release of Gal-9. Our recent studies also showed that Gal-9 has other functions, such as cell differentiation, aggregation, adhesion, and death. Now, we and other groups are on the way of investigating the regulation and function of Gal-9 in a variety of physiological and pathological conditions. In this article, we will show the possible role of Gal-9 in physiological and pathological conditions by using our recent findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology & Immunopathology, Kagawa Medical University, Kagawa, Japan. mitsuomi@kms.ac.jp
authors.forename: Mitsuomi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirashima
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kashio
authors.forename: Nozomu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Tada-atsu
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Imaizumi
authors.forename: Toshiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kageshita
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saita
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000378:metabolism; D037161:Galectins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D037161:Galectins; C105032:LGALS9 protein, human