Galectins in acute and chronic inflammation.

Fu-Tong Liu Ri-Yao Yang Daniel Hsu

Published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Galectins are animal lectins that bind to β-galactosides, such as lactose and N-acetyllactosamine, in free form or contained in glycoproteins or glycolipids. They are located intracellularly or extracellularly. In the latter they exhibit bivalent or multivalent interactions with glycans on cell surfaces and induce various cellular responses, includ...

Galectin-12: A protein associated with lipid droplets that regulates lipid metabolism and energy balance.

Ri-Yao Yang Havel, Pj Fu-Tong Liu

Published in Adipocyte

Galectin-12, a member of the galectin family of animal lectins, is preferentially expressed in adipocytes. We recently reported that this galectin is localized on lipid droplets, specialized organelles for fat storage. Galectin-12 regulates lipid degradation (lipolysis) by modulating lipolytic protein kinase A (PKA) signaling. Mice deficient in gal...