Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Dec 22;23(1):69.
doi: 10.3390/ijms23010069.

Galectins in Early Pregnancy and Pregnancy-Associated Pathologies

Milica Jovanović Krivokuća  1 , Aleksandra Vilotić  1 , Mirjana Nacka-Aleksić  1 , Andrea Pirković  1 , Danica Ćujić  1 , Janko Legner  1 , Dragana Dekanski  1 , Žanka Bojić-Trbojević  1
Affiliations
Review

Galectins in Early Pregnancy and Pregnancy-Associated Pathologies

Milica Jovanović Krivokuća et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Galectins are a family of conserved soluble proteins defined by an affinity for β-galactoside structures present on various glycoconjugates. Over the past few decades, galectins have been recognized as important factors for successful implantation and maintenance of pregnancy. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated their involvement in trophoblast cell function and placental development. In addition, several lines of evidence suggest their important roles in feto-maternal immune tolerance regulation and angiogenesis. Changed or dysregulated galectin expression is also described in pregnancy-related disorders. Although the data regarding galectins' clinical relevance are still at an early stage, evidence suggests that some galectin family members are promising candidates for better understanding pregnancy-related pathologies, as well as predicting biomarkers. In this review, we aim to summarize current knowledge of galectins in early pregnancy as well as in pregnancy-related pathologies.

Keywords: galectins; pregnancy; pregnancy-related pathologies; trophoblast function.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The proposed functions of galectins in the placentation process. STB—syncytiotrophoblast; CTB—cytotrophoblast; EVT—extravillous trophoblast; EnVT—endovascular trophoblast; PRG—progesterone; hCG—human chorionic gonadotropin. (Illustrated by Milica Jovanović Krivokuća).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Suggested regulators of galectin expression in pregnancy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Red-Horse K., Zhou Y., Genbacev O., Prakobphol A., Foulk R., McMaster M., Fisher S.J. Trophoblast differentiation during embryo implantation and formation of the maternal-fetal interface. J. Clin. Investig. 2004;114:744–754. doi: 10.1172/JCI200422991. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blois S.M., Conrad M.L., Freitag N., Barrientos G. Galectins in angiogenesis: Consequences for gestation. J. Reprod. Immunol. 2015;108:33–41. doi: 10.1016/j.jri.2014.12.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Blois S.M., Ilarregui J.M., Tometten M., Garcia M., Orsal A.S., Cordo-Russo R., Toscano M.A., Bianco G.A., Kobelt P., Handjiski B., et al. A pivotal role for galectin-1 in fetomaternal tolerance. Nat. Med. 2007;13:1450–1457. doi: 10.1038/nm1680. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Than N.G., Romero R., Kim C.J., McGowen M.R., Papp Z., Wildman D.E. Galectins: Guardians of eutherian pregnancy at the maternal–fetal interface. Trends Endocrinol. Metab. 2012;23:23–31. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2011.09.003. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Johannes L., Jacob R., Leffler H. Galectins at a glance. J. Cell Sci. 2018;131:jcs208884. doi: 10.1242/jcs.208884. - DOI - PubMed