title: Downregulation of galectin-3 by EGF mediates the apoptosis of HepG2 cells.
abstract: Epidermal growth factor (EGF) in high concentrations induces apoptosis of the tumor cells which express high levels of epidermal growth factor receptor. However, the precise mechanism for this induction is not clear. Galectin-3 is the most probable candidate for mediating this effect, as it is known to induce anti-apoptotic activity in a variety of tumor cells exposed to diverse apoptotic stimuli. In this study, we determined whether galectin-3 plays a role in high concentrations of EGF-induced apoptosis of HepG2 cells. We found that EGF in high concentrations led to the growth inhibition of HepG2 cells, which were associated with promotion of cell death. High concentrations of EGF suppressed cytoplasmic expression of galectin-3. Moreover, we demonstrated overexpression of galectin-3 could reduce EGF-induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells. Our study demonstrated for the first time that downregulation of cytoplasmic galectin-3 was essential for high concentrations of EGF-induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells.
authors: The Research Core, Second Hospital, The Second Clinical School, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. ansel.zzhu@gmail.com
authors: Zhenzhen
authors: Z
authors: Hu
authors: Xiuqin
authors: X
authors: Jiang
authors: Ying
authors: Y
authors: Xu
authors: Nan
authors: N
authors: Lu
authors: Weizhi
authors: W
authors: Wang
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Luo
authors: Han
authors: H
authors: Zou
authors: Datong
authors: D
authors: Zheng
authors: Xing
authors: X
authors: Feng
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D010766:Phosphorylation
chemical_list: D037502:Galectin 3; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor