Ján Kliment
The galectin protein family includes 15 members that are characterized by galactose binding domain and are widely expressed in diverse cell types. There has been an explosion in information on these fascinating proteins in various pathological processes, particularly in cancer, chronic inflammation and fibrosis. Galectin-3 plays a crucial role in cell proliferation, adhesion, differentiation, angiogenesis and apoptosis in normal and pathologically damaged tissues. Accumulated experimental and clinical data demonstrate a correlation between galectin-3 over expression and tumour progression and metastasis. Down-regulation of galectin-3 expression resulted to reduced tumour cell proliferation. Gal-3 is gaining its attraction as a potential new biomarker for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of certain tumours, including prostate cancer. New galectin-3 targeting therapies are in various stages of its development.