title: [Cancer-associated carbohydrate-binding protein galectin-3 and its therapeutic ligands].
abstract: Carbohydrates are proved to be involved in recognition processes, including adhesion between cells, adhesion of cells to the extracellular matrix, and specific recognition of cells by one another. Galectin-3 is a nonenzymatic carbohydrate-binding protein present in mammals, whose conserved carbohydrate-recognition domain preferentially binds to specific carbohydrate structures and plays an important role in biological and biochemical reactions. Substances developed with the specific structure of beta-galactose moieties or their analogues, including chemically modified carbohydrates, functional peptides and modified natural polysaccharide, have been evaluated as potent therapeutic ligands for galectin-3 and showed at different level their ability to interfere with carbohydrate-protein interactions and therefore, inhibit the cell-cell recognition and adhesion processes, which play an important role in tumor growth, progression and metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yu-Hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Qi-Bing
authors.initials: QB
authors.lastname: Mei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002450:Cell Communication; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D037502:Galectin 3; D008024:Ligands