title: Increased expression of distinct galectins in multiple sclerosis lesions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic progressive degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, characterized by inflammation, demyelination, ultimate failure of remyelination and axonal loss. Current research identifies galectins, adhesion/growth-regulatory effectors binding β-galactosides, peptide motifs and lipids, as important immunomodulators in diverse inflammatory diseases. However, little is known about their expression, cellular localization and role in human central nervous system tissue. To identify a potential role of galectins in MS, their expression and localization in control white matter (CWM) and demyelinated MS lesions were examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  qPCR, Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses were performed on human post mortem CWM and MS lesions at different stages. Cultured astrocytes, derived from healthy subjects and MS patients, were analysed similarly.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 11 different galectins tested, galectins-1, -3, -8 and -9 were present at detectable levels in CWM, and, interestingly, significantly enhanced in active MS lesions. On the cellular level, galectins localized to microglia/macrophages, astrocytes and endothelial cells. Intriguingly, galectin-9 displayed a distinctly different intracellular localization in microglia/macrophages when comparing active and inactive MS lesions, being restricted to the nuclei in active lesions, and primarily localizing in the cytoplasm in inactive lesions. Furthermore, enhanced levels of galectin-1, detected as dimers in Western blot analysis, were released by cultured astrocytes from MS patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides a detailed analysis of galectins in MS lesions and assigns distinct galectins to different aspects of the disease. Thus, besides being known as modulators of inflammatory processes, our findings suggest additional association of distinct galectins with MS pathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Section Membrane Cell Biology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 1, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stancic
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Horssen
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Thijssen
authors.forename: H-J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Gabius
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van der Valk
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoekstra
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Baron
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D037161:Galectins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017628:Microglia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D037161:Galectins