title: Dual roles of endogenous and exogenous galectin-1 in the control of testicular immunopathology.
abstract: Galectin-1 (Gal-1), a proto-type member of galectin family, is highly expressed in immune privileged sites, including the testis. However, in spite of considerable progress the relevance of endogenous and exogenous Gal-1 in testis pathophysiology have not yet been explored. Here we evaluated the in vivo roles of Gal-1 in experimental autoimmune orchitis (EAO), a well-established model of autoimmune testicular inflammation associated with subfertility and infertility. A significant reduction in the incidence and severity of EAO was observed in mice genetically deficient in Gal-1 (Lgals1(-/-)) versus wild-type (WT) mice. Testicular histopathology revealed the presence of multifocal testicular damage in WT mice characterized by an interstitial mononuclear cell infiltrate and different degrees of germ cell sloughing of seminiferous tubules. TUNEL assay and assessment of active caspase-3 expression, revealed the prevalence of apoptotic spermatocytes mainly localized in the adluminal compartment of seminiferous tubules in EAO mice. A significant increased number of TUNEL-positive germ cells was detected in EAO testis from WT compared with Lgals1(-/-) mice. In contrast, exogenous administration of recombinant Gal-1 to WT mice undergoing EAO attenuated the severity of the disease. Our results unveil a dual role of endogenous versus exogenous Gal-1 in the control of autoimmune testis inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Facultad de Medicina, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Cecilia V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Facultad de Medicina, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Leticia G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Facultad de Medicina, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Gisela S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Gualdoni
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Facultad de Medicina, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Livia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lustig
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratorio de Inmunopatología, Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (IBYME), CONICET, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina [2] Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, UBA, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Gabriel A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Rabinovich
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Facultad de Medicina, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Vanesa A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Guazzone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D037483:Galectin 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009920:Orchitis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D012671:Seminiferous Tubules / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D037483:Galectin 1