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Review
. 2021 Dec 15:12:784473.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.784473. eCollection 2021.

Medawar's PostEra: Galectins Emerged as Key Players During Fetal-Maternal Glycoimmune Adaptation

Ellen Menkhorst  1   2 , Nandor Gabor Than  3 , Udo Jeschke  4 , Gabriela Barrientos  5 , Laszlo Szereday  6 , Gabriela Dveksler  7 , Sandra M Blois  8
Affiliations
Review

Medawar's PostEra: Galectins Emerged as Key Players During Fetal-Maternal Glycoimmune Adaptation

Ellen Menkhorst et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Lectin-glycan interactions, in particular those mediated by the galectin family, regulate many processes required for a successful pregnancy. Over the past decades, increasing evidence gathered from in vitro and in vivo experiments indicate that members of the galectin family specifically bind to both intracellular and membrane bound carbohydrate ligands regulating angiogenesis, immune-cell adaptations required to tolerate the fetal semi-allograft and mammalian embryogenesis. Therefore, galectins play important roles in fetal development and placentation contributing to maternal and fetal health. This review discusses the expression and role of galectins during the course of pregnancy, with an emphasis on maternal immune adaptions and galectin-glycan interactions uncovered in the recent years. In addition, we summarize the galectin fingerprints associated with pathological gestation with particular focus on preeclampsia.

Keywords: galectins; glycoimmunology; placenta; pregnancy; pregnancy specific proteins.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Types of galectins and general mechanisms. Shown is an illustration of the galectins structure and the functional interactions of this type of lectins with cell-surface and extracellular glycoconjugates.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Localization of galectins within the placental and maternal compartment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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