title: The role of galectin-3 in cancer drug resistance.
abstract: The galectins comprise a family of 14 members of beta-galactoside-binding proteins, characterized by their affinity for beta-galactosides and by a conserved sequence in the carbohydrate recognition domain that bind to the carbohydrate portion of cell surface glycoproteins or glycolipids. Galectin-3, a 31kDa gene product, is a multifunctional oncogenic protein which regulates cell growth, cell adhesion, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis. Recent studies have revealed that galectin-3 demonstrates anti-apoptotic effects which contribute to cell survival in several types of cancer cells. Intracellular galectin-3 in particular, which contains the NWGR anti-death motif of the Bcl-2 family, inhibits cell apoptosis induced by chemotherapeutic agent such as cisplatin and etoposide in some types of cancer cells. We have also reported that nuclear export of phosphorylated galectin-3 regulates its anti-apoptotic activity in response to chemotherapeutic drugs. Here, we will describe the role of galectin-3 as an anti-apoptotic factor in response to chemotherapeutic drugs and will discuss recent data on its molecular mechanism that contribute to drug resistance. We suggest that targeting galectin-3 could improve the efficacy of anticancer drug chemotherapy in several types of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukumori
authors.forename: Hiro-Omi
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Kanayama
authors.forename: Avraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raz
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D037502:Galectin 3