LGALS4

What is LGALS4 protein?

LGALS4 (galectin 4) is a protein coding gene which situated on the long arm of chromosome 19 at locus 19q13. The expression of this gene is restricted to small intestine, colon, and rectum, and it is underexpressed in colorectal cancer. This gene encodes a transcription factor called Galectin-4 (or LGALS4) which belongs to a subfamily of galectins. The galectins are a family of beta-galactoside-binding proteins implicated in modulating cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, which inhibits chronic inflammations, GVHD, and allergic reactions. LGALS4 is composed of two carbohydrate recognition domains within the same peptide chain, which is consisted of 323 amino acids and its molecular mass is approximately 35.9 kDa.

What is the function of LGALS4 protein?

LGALS4 can bind to molecules on the surface of a variety of immune cells, such as T cells, B cells, dendritic cells, etc., thereby regulating the activity and function of these cells. It can regulate T cell activity and inhibit B cell activity. It can also bind to some inflammation-related molecules, such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α), etc., so as to participate in the occurrence and development of inflammation.

LGALS4 related Signaling pathways

Extracellular LGALS4 can bind to sugar complexes on the cell surface and induce intracellular signal transduction. And, intracellular LGALS4 can participate in cell growth, differentiation and immune response through JAK/STAT signaling pathway, MAPK/ERK signaling pathway and NF-κB signaling pathway. In addition, LGALS4 can also affect the metabolic process and structure of cells, which may be related to the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

LGALS4 Related Diseases

LGALS4 is abnormally expressed in many types of cancer, including breast, lung, and colon cancers. It can promote the growth and invasion of tumor cells, while also inhibiting the immune system's attack on the tumor. LGALS4 regulates the activity of T and B cells, therefore it also plays an important role in autoimmune diseases. For example, mice with a defect in the LGALS4 gene develop diseases such as autoimmune hemolytic anemia. LGALS4 can bind to some inflammation-related molecules and thus participate in the occurrence and development of inflammatory responses. Also, LGALS4 is associated with a number of other diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, etc.

Fig1. The presence of Gal-4 in chondrocytes correlates with the degeneration of cartilage.

Bioapplications of LGALS4

Because LGALS4 is abnormally expressed in many types of cancer, it can be used as a target for tumor diagnosis and treatment. It is also possible to understand the regulatory mechanism of the immune system and the mechanism of inflammatory response by studying the function of LGALS4. In addition, LGALS4 can also be used as a target for drug development to treat related diseases.

Case Study 1: Stefania Livia Ciummo, 2023

Fig1. Western blot analysis of EGF, VEGF, LGALS4 and SHBG protein expression in IL30-PC3 (a) and IL30-DU145 (b) which were cultured with or without HUVEC. Representative images of three experiments

Case Study 2: Charlotte G H M de Jong, 2018

Fig2. Galectin-4 is present in axons and microglia/macrophages in the corpus callosum upon cuprizone-induced demyelination.

LGALS4 has several biochemical functions, for example, carbohydrate binding. Some of the functions are cooperated with other proteins, some of the functions could acted by LGALS4 itself. We selected most functions LGALS4 had, and list some proteins which have the same functions with LGALS4. You can find most of the proteins on our site.

LGALS4 has direct interactions with proteins and molecules. Those interactions were detected by several methods such as yeast two hybrid, co-IP, pull-down and so on. We selected proteins and molecules interacted with LGALS4 here. Most of them are supplied by our site. Hope this information will be useful for your research of LGALS4.

ARPC3;MLH1;RRAS2;KIAA1549;1-phosphatidyl-1d-myo-inositol 3,5-bisphosphate;1-phosphatidyl-1d-myo-inositol 4,5-bisphosphate;CFTR