Die Expression und Lokalisation von Galektin-1, Galektin-3 und Galektin-8 in Pankreaskarzinomzelllinien

Abstract

Galectins comprise a family of animal lectin that exhibits affinity for ß-galactosides. 15 galectins have been identified with various biological functions as neoplasic transformation and metastasis. We investigated the expression pattern and subcellular localisation of galectin-1, -3 and galectin-8 in pancreatic carcinoma cell lines. Most of this cell lines expressed considerable amounts of galectin-1, -3 and -8. RT-PCR analyses exposed that the analysed cell lines exhibit two galectin-8 mRNA variants, which encode for the two galectin-8 isoforms detected in immunblot analyses. Coimmunprecipitation studies of the galectin-8 isoforms with different Ras-isoforms revealed that both isoforms preferentially interacted with K-Ras. Therefore, we speculate that galectin-8 proteins might be important in regulating the function of K-Ras and influence K-ras-mediated tumorgenesis of pancreatic cells.