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Review
. 2022 May 16;23(10):5548.
doi: 10.3390/ijms23105548.

Galectin 1-A Key Player between Tissue Repair and Fibrosis

Anca Hermenean  1   2 , Daniela Oatis  1 , Hildegard Herman  2 , Alina Ciceu  2 , Giovanbattista D'Amico  2 , Maria Consiglia Trotta  3
Affiliations
Review

Galectin 1-A Key Player between Tissue Repair and Fibrosis

Anca Hermenean et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Galectins are ten family members of carbohydrate-binding proteins with a high affinity for β galactose-containing oligosaccharides. Galectin-1 (Gal-1) is the first protein discovered in the family, expressed in many sites under normal and pathological conditions. In the first part of the review article, we described recent advances in the Gal-1 modulatory role on wound healing, by focusing on the different phases triggered by Gal-1, such as inflammation, proliferation, tissue repair and re-epithelialization. On the contrary, Gal-1 persistent over-expression enhances angiogenesis and extracellular matrix (ECM) production via PI3K/Akt pathway activation and leads to keloid tissue. Therefore, the targeted Gal-1 modulation should be considered a method of choice to treat wound healing and avoid keloid formation. In the second part of the review article, we discuss studies clarifying the role of Gal-1 in the pathogenesis of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, liver, renal, pancreatic and pulmonary fibrosis. This evidence suggests that Gal-1 may become a biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of tissue fibrosis and a promising molecular target for the development of new and original therapeutic tools to treat fibrosis in different chronic diseases.

Keywords: diabetic nephropathy; diabetic retinopathy; fibrosis; galectin 1; idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; liver fibrosis; pancreatic fibrosis; wound healing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The role of Galectin 1 in wound healing. (A). Hemostasis; (B). Resolution of inflammation; (C). Proliferation, tissue repair and re-epithelization. Figure created with BioRender.com.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The role of Gal-1 in the HSCs activation and migration. Figure created with BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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