Galectin-2 Explained

Galectin-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the LGALS2 gene.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The protein encoded by this gene is a soluble beta-galactoside binding lectin. The encoded protein is found as a homodimer and can bind to Lymphotoxin alpha. A single nucleotide polymorphism in an intron of this gene can alter the transcriptional level of the protein, with a resultant increased risk of myocardial infarction.^[3]

Further reading

• Gitt MA, Massa SM, Leffler H, Barondes SH . Isolation and expression of a gene encoding L-14-II, a new human soluble lactose-binding lectin. . J. Biol. Chem. . 267 . 15 . 10601–6 . 1992 . 10.1016/S0021-9258(19)50059-X . 1375225 . free .
• Gitt MA, Barondes SH . Evidence that a human soluble beta-galactoside-binding lectin is encoded by a family of genes. . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 83 . 20 . 7603–7 . 1986 . 3020551 . 10.1073/pnas.83.20.7603 . 386769 . 1986PNAS...83.7603G . free .
• Lobsanov YD, Gitt MA, Leffler H, etal . X-ray crystal structure of the human dimeric S-Lac lectin, L-14-II, in complex with lactose at 2.9-A resolution. . J. Biol. Chem. . 268 . 36 . 27034–8 . 1994 . 8262940 . 10.2210/pdb1hlc/pdb. 44347534 .
• Lobsanov YD, Gitt MA, Leffler H, etal . Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the human dimeric S-Lac lectin (L-14-II). . J. Mol. Biol. . 233 . 3 . 553–5 . 1993 . 8411163 . 10.1006/jmbi.1993.1533 .
• Mehrabian M, Gitt MA, Sparkes RS, etal . Two members of the S-lac lectin gene family, LGALS1 and LGALS2, reside in close proximity on human chromosome 22q12-q13. . Genomics . 15 . 2 . 418–20 . 1993 . 8449510 . 10.1006/geno.1993.1078 .
• Dunham I, Shimizu N, Roe BA, etal . The DNA sequence of human chromosome 22. . Nature . 402 . 6761 . 489–95 . 1999 . 10591208 . 10.1038/990031 . 1999Natur.402..489D . free .
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH, etal . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences. . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Ozaki K, Inoue K, Sato H, etal . Functional variation in LGALS2 confers risk of myocardial infarction and regulates lymphotoxin-alpha secretion in vitro. . Nature . 429 . 6987 . 72–5 . 2004 . 15129282 . 10.1038/nature02502 . 2004Natur.429...72O . free .
• Collins JE, Wright CL, Edwards CA, etal . A genome annotation-driven approach to cloning the human ORFeome. . Genome Biol. . 5 . 10 . R84 . 2005 . 15461802 . 10.1186/gb-2004-5-10-r84 . 545604 . free .
• Gerhard DS, Wagner L, Feingold EA, etal . The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC). . Genome Res. . 14 . 10B . 2121–7 . 2004 . 15489334 . 10.1101/gr.2596504 . 528928 .
• Christensen MB, Lawlor DA, Gaunt TR, etal . Genotype of galectin 2 (LGALS2) is associated with insulin-glucose profile in the British Women's Heart and Health Study. . Diabetologia . 49 . 4 . 673–7 . 2006 . 16468038 . 10.1007/s00125-006-0145-3 . free .
• Stowell SR, Karmakar S, Stowell CJ, etal . Human galectin-1, -2, and -4 induce surface exposure of phosphatidylserine in activated human neutrophils but not in activated T cells. . Blood . 109 . 1 . 219–27 . 2007 . 16940423 . 10.1182/blood-2006-03-007153 . 1785076 .
• Mangino M, Braund P, Singh R, etal . LGALS2 functional variant rs7291467 is not associated with susceptibility to myocardial infarction in Caucasians. . Atherosclerosis . 194 . 1 . 112–5 . 2007 . 17098239 . 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2006.10.004 .
• Kimura A, Takahashi M, Choi BY, etal . Lack of association between LTA and LGALS2 polymorphisms and myocardial infarction in Japanese and Korean populations. . Tissue Antigens . 69 . 3 . 265–9 . 2007 . 17493152 . 10.1111/j.1399-0039.2006.00798.x .

Notes and References

1. Gitt MA, Barondes SH . Genomic sequence and organization of two members of a human lectin gene family . Biochemistry . 30 . 1 . 82–9 . Feb 1991 . 1988031 . 10.1021/bi00215a013 .
2. Sturm A, Lensch M, Andre S, Kaltner H, Wiedenmann B, Rosewicz S, Dignass AU, Gabius HJ . Human galectin-2: novel inducer of T cell apoptosis with distinct profile of caspase activation . J Immunol . 173 . 6 . 3825–37 . Sep 2004 . 15356130 . 10.4049/jimmunol.173.6.3825. free .
3. Web site: Entrez Gene: LGALS2 lectin, galactoside-binding, soluble, 2.