Galectins News and Research

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The diverse mechanisms by which galectins can regulate adaptive and innate immune responses

Researchers explored ways galectins can impact immunity and discussed the opportunities and challenges in the field.

18 Jan 2023

Photocatalyst-based ViraMap platform maps SARS-CoV-2 spike protein interactions on the cell surface

Researchers performed the photocatalytic mapping of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-host cell membrane interactions.

7 Sep 2022

Can cardiac biomarkers determine COVID-19 prognosis?

Researchers review prognostic cardiac biomarkers in COVID-19 patients.

15 Mar 2022

Sugar-binding pockets in N-terminal domain may increase SARS-CoV-2 infectivity

The N-terminal domain has a fold that can bind sugar, and new research led by Jonathan Lees from Oxford Brookes University found the sugar-binding pockets near the N-terminal domain help to increase viral infectivity. Furthermore, the findings show that the SARS-CoV-2 sugar-binding pockets are evolving with added loops observed in the pockets of new variants.

9 Dec 2021

Researchers identify a molecular culprit for COVID-19's seasonal nature

Not to pile on, but winter is coming and the COVID-19 pandemic is about to get worse. Not necessarily because of omicron – scientists are still working that one out – but because there’s more evidence than ever that COVID-19 is a seasonal disease.

8 Dec 2021

How SARS-CoV-2 spike binds to multiple host receptors

Researchers from the Genos Glycoscience Research Laboratory in Croatia have recently investigated the sites that the S protein is capable of binding with.

23 Sep 2021

Galectins play a key role in the degeneration of cartilage in osteoarthritis

A network of carbohydrate binding proteins - so-called galectins - plays an important role in the degeneration of cartilage in osteoarthritis.

19 Dec 2018

Scientists define key binding characteristics of protein associated with heart disease and breast cancer

Galectins attach to other proteins via the carbohydrates on their surfaces (sugar-binding proteins). As such they impact on a range of processes in the cell associated with a number of diseases, including heart disease and breast cancer – the most common cancer in women worldwide, with 1.7 million new cases diagnosed in 2012 alone.

10 Aug 2018

Complex sugar molecules could help in early detection of tumors

Scientists from the University of Würzburg have synthesized a complex sugar molecule which specifically binds to the tumor protein Galectin-1. This could help to recognize tumors at an early stage and to combat them in a targeted manner.

14 Aug 2017

Study reveals potential therapeutic targets for treating patients who carry IFNGR receptor mutation

The study began by taking the medical history of 11 children, all of whom had a disorder due to mycobacteria infections, as the basis. All were discovered to have the same phenotype with the same mutation, which was located in the interferon-gamma (IFNGR) receptor, so the group began to explore what was causing this dysfunction.

27 Oct 2016

Carbohydrate-binding protein controls inflammation in osteoarthritis patients

More and more people, particularly older people, are suffering from osteoarthritis due to wear and tear on their joints. This primarily affects the knee and hip joints but also the spine. In earlier studies, scientists at MedUni Vienna Department of Orthopaedics showed that raised levels of certain proteins, so-called galectins, and their docking sites are found in patients with osteoarthritis.

7 Apr 2016

Glycan binding proteins modify parasite infection in cells of the heart muscle

Chagas disease is the main cause of infectious heart disease in Latin America. Researchers from the INGEBI and IBYME Institutes in Argentina explored the effect of glycan binding protein interactions between the human host and Typanosoma cruzi parasite. They found that a glycan binding protein expressed in humans modified the infection in cells of the heart muscle, showing the importance of galectins in the response to parasite infection.

12 Oct 2015

Carbohydrate-binding proteins fill in gaps in immune defenses

Our bodies produce a family of proteins that recognize and kill bacteria whose carbohydrate coatings resemble those of our own cells too closely, scientists have discovered.

13 May 2014

Galectins play an important role in development of osteoarthrosis

Inflammatory joint disease (arthritis) is affecting more and more, and especially older, people. In a recent survey by Statistik Austria, 39 per cent of people over the age of 60 stated that they have a form of arthritis. One particular form of the condition is osteoarthrosis, which is wear and tear on the joints.

6 Dec 2012

Galectin Therapeutics to initiate GM-CT-01 Phase 1/2 combination study in advanced MM

Galectin Therapeutics, the Cancer Centre at the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) announced today that they will initiate a Phase 1/2 safety and efficacy trial testing a novel treatment combination in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma.

9 Dec 2011

Galectin posts new corporate video on galectin-inhibiting therapeutics to treat fibrosis and cancer

Galectin Therapeutics Inc. today announced that it posted a new corporate presentation video to its website, www.galectintherapeutics.com, that highlights the Company's leadership position in developing galectin-inhibiting therapeutics to treat fibrosis and cancer.

30 Sep 2011

Galectin second quarter net loss increases to $3.9 million

Galectin Therapeutics Inc., the leading developer of therapeutics that target galectin proteins to treat fibrosis and cancer, today reported its financial results for the second quarter and first six months, ended June 30, 2011.

12 Aug 2011

Galectin, University of Michigan enter collaboration to study role of Galectins in cardiovascular disease

Galectin Therapeutics Inc. today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration with Dr. Jose Jalife of the University of Michigan Medical School to better understand the relationship of Galectin-3 to cardiac fibrosis in chronic cardiac arrhythmias.

21 Jul 2011

Galectin strengthens cancer drug patent portfolio in Europe

Galectin Therapeutics Inc. today announced that the European Patent Office has granted the Company a new patent, No. 02731178.6, "Co-administration of a Polysaccharide with a Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Cancer".

15 Jun 2011

Pro-Pharmaceuticals receives method patent regarding DAVANAT in Japan

Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the leading developer of therapeutics that target Galectin proteins to treat cancer and fibrosis, today announced that the Japan Patent Office has accepted a new patent, No. 2002-574987, "Co-administration of a Polysaccharide with a Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Cancer". The patent protects, among other things, methods for reducing the toxicity of chemotherapies in which a polysaccharide, such as the Company's lead drug DAVANAT®, is co-administered with a chemotherapeutic agent to reduce toxicity of the chemotherapy.

25 Apr 2011