Galectin-7 Explained

Galectin-7 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the LGALS7 gene.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The galectins are a family of beta-galactoside-binding proteins implicated in modulating cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions. Differential and in situ hybridizations indicate that this lectin is specifically expressed in keratinocytes. It is expressed at all stages of epidermal differentiation (i.e., in basal and suprabasal layers). It is moderately repressed by retinoic acid. The protein was found mainly in stratified squamous epithelium. The antigen localized to basal keratinocytes, although it was also found, albeit at lower levels, in the suprabasal layers where it concentrated to areas of cell-to-cell contact. The cellular localization and its striking down-regulation in cultured keratinocytes imply a role in cell–cell and/or cell–matrix interactions necessary for normal growth control.

Further reading

• Bonaldo MF, Lennon G, Soares MB . Normalization and subtraction: two approaches to facilitate gene discovery . Genome Res. . 6 . 9 . 791–806 . 1997 . 8889548 . 10.1101/gr.6.9.791 . free .
• Polyak K, Xia Y, Zweier JL, etal . A model for p53-induced apoptosis . Nature . 389 . 6648 . 300–5 . 1997 . 9305847 . 10.1038/38525 . 1997Natur.389..300P . 4429638 .
• Magnaldo T, Fowlis D, Darmon M . Galectin-7, a marker of all types of stratified epithelia . Differentiation . 63 . 3 . 159–68 . 1998 . 9697310 . 10.1046/j.1432-0436.1998.6330159.x .
• Leonidas DD, Vatzaki EH, Vorum H, etal . Structural basis for the recognition of carbohydrates by human galectin-7 . Biochemistry . 37 . 40 . 13930–40 . 1998 . 9760227 . 10.1021/bi981056x . 27458839 .
• Bernerd F, Sarasin A, Magnaldo T . Galectin-7 overexpression is associated with the apoptotic process in UVB-induced sunburn keratinocytes . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 96 . 20 . 11329–34 . 1999 . 10500176 . 10.1073/pnas.96.20.11329 . 18033 . 1999PNAS...9611329B . free .
• Kuwabara I, Kuwabara Y, Yang RY, etal . Galectin-7 (PIG1) exhibits pro-apoptotic function through JNK activation and mitochondrial cytochrome c release . J. Biol. Chem. . 277 . 5 . 3487–97 . 2002 . 11706006 . 10.1074/jbc.M109360200 . 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 .
• Cao Z, Said N, Wu HK, etal . Galectin-7 as a potential mediator of corneal epithelial cell migration . Arch. Ophthalmol. . 121 . 1 . 82–6 . 2003 . 12523890 . 10.1001/archopht.121.1.82.
• Kopitz J, André S, von Reitzenstein C, etal . Homodimeric galectin-7 (p53-induced gene 1) is a negative growth regulator for human neuroblastoma cells . Oncogene . 22 . 40 . 6277–88 . 2003 . 13679866 . 10.1038/sj.onc.1206631 . 10990464 .
• 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 .
• Saussez S, Cucu DR, Decaestecker C, etal . Galectin 7 (p53-induced gene 1): a new prognostic predictor of recurrence and survival in stage IV hypopharyngeal cancer . Ann. Surg. Oncol. . 13 . 7 . 999–1009 . 2006 . 16788763 . 10.1245/ASO.2006.08.033 . 12521102 .

Notes and References

1. Madsen P, Rasmussen HH, Flint T, Gromov P, Kruse TA, Honore B, Vorum H, Celis JE . Cloning, expression, and chromosome mapping of human galectin-7 . J Biol Chem . 270 . 11 . 5823–29 . Apr 1995 . 7534301 . 10.1074/jbc.270.11.5823 . free .
2. Magnaldo T, Bernerd F, Darmon M . Galectin-7, a human 14-kDa S-lectin, specifically expressed in keratinocytes and sensitive to retinoic acid . Dev Biol . 168 . 2 . 259–71 . May 1995 . 7729568 . 10.1006/dbio.1995.1078 . free .
3. Web site: Entrez Gene: LGALS7 lectin, galactoside-binding, soluble, 7 (galectin 7).