Artículos de revistas
Turning 'sweet' on immunity: galectin–glycan interactions in immune tolerance and inflammation
Fecha
2009-05Registro en:
Rabinovich, Gabriel Adrián; Toscano, Marta Alicia; Turning 'sweet' on immunity: galectin–glycan interactions in immune tolerance and inflammation; Macmillan Publisher Limited; Nature Reviews Immunology; 9; 5; 5-2009; 338-352
1474-1733
1474-1741
CONICET Digital
CONICET
Autor
Rabinovich, Gabriel Adrián
Toscano, Marta Alicia
Resumen
The function of deciphering the biological information encoded by the glycome, which is the entire repertoire of complex sugar structures expressed by cells and tissues, is assigned in part to endogenous glycan-binding proteins or lectins. Galectins, a family of animal lectins that bind N-acetyllactosamine-containing glycans, have many roles in diverse immune cell processes, including those relevant to pathogen recognition, shaping the course of adaptive immune responses and fine-tuning the inflammatory response. How do galectins translate glycan-encoded information into tolerogenic or inflammatory cell programmes? An improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying these functions will provide further opportunities for developing new therapies based on the immunoregulatory properties of this multifaceted protein family.