The roles of galectins in hepatic diseases
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REVIEW PAPER
The roles of galectins in hepatic diseases Mei‑Juan Sun1 · Zhan‑Qi Cao1 · Ping Leng1 Received: 22 March 2020 / Accepted: 14 July 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Hepatic diseases include all diseases that occur in the liver, including hepatitis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, etc. Hepatic diseases worldwide are characterized by high incidences of digestive system diseases, which present with subtle symptoms, are difficult to treat and have high mortality. Galectins are β-galactoside-binding proteins that have been found to be aberrantly expressed during hepatic disease progression. An increasing number of studies have shown that abnormal expression of galectins is extensively involved in hepatic diseases, such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), liver cirrhosis, hepatitis and liver fibrosis. Galectins function as intracellular and extracellular hepatic disease regulators mainly through the binding of their carbohydrate recognition domain to glycoconjugates expressed in hepatocytes. In this review, we summarize current research on the various roles of galectins in cirrhosis, hepatitis, liver fibrosis and HCC, which may provide a preliminary theoretical basis for the exploration of new targets for the treatment of hepatic diseases. Keywords Galectins · Roles · Hepatic diseases · Targets
Introduction Hepatic diseases are harmful to human health worldwide. According to modern medicine, hepatic diseases include acute liver injury or acute liver failure, liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and each stage of primary liver cancer and involve mutual relations between diseases of each organ system and liver disease (Camilleri 2006). Hepatic diseases worldwide are characterized by high incidences of digestive system diseases, which present with subtle symptoms, are difficult to treat and have high mortality. Among these diseases, HCC is considered the most dangerous and intractable disease. HCC is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. According to 2018 statistics, there were approximately 84,000 new cases and 78,000 deaths worldwide, and the data are on the rise (Bray et al. 2018). To date, many studies have found that the main pathogenic factors of HCC are hepatitis B, hepatitis C, long-term alcohol abuse, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and consumption of food contaminated with aflatoxin B1 (Mcglynn et al. 2015). Currently, the most * Ping Leng [email protected] 1
Department of Pharmacy, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, No. 16 Jiang Su Road, Qingdao 266003, People’s Republic of China
effective treatment for HCC is resection or liver transplantation. However, due to the occult onset, rapid progression and early metastasis of HCC, there is still a lack of effective treatments. Therefore, it is urgent to further study the genes that are closely related to the etiological agents and recurrence of hepatic diseases and to understand the relevant factors that influence the progression of hepatic diseases. Galectins are a family of glycoproteins with high affinity for β-galac
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