Skip Navigation



Glycobiology Advance Access published online on September 24, 2007
Glycobiology, doi:10.1093/glycob/cwm104
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Supplementary Data
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
17/12/1404    most recent
cwm104v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Tribulatti, M. V.
Right arrow Articles by Campetella, O.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Tribulatti, M. V.
Right arrow Articles by Campetella, O.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Galectin-8 Induces Apoptosis In The CD4highCD8High Thymocyte Subpopulation

María Virginia Tribulatti1, Juan Mucci1, Valentina Cattaneo1, Fernán Agüero1, Tim Gilmartin2, Steven R. Head2 and Oscar Campetella1,*

1 Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas – Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús, CONICET-UNSAM, (B1650WAB) San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2 The Consortium for Functional Glycomics Microarray Core, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California (CA 92037), USA.

*To whom proofs should be delivered. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-UNSAM, Predio INTI Edificio 24, Av. General Paz 5445, B1650WAB San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Phone: (54-11) 4580-7255; Fax: (54-11) 4752-9639, e-mail: oscar{at}iib.unsam.edu.ar.

Received on July 20, 2007; accepted on September 9, 2007

In the present work, we followed a microarray approach to analyze the expression of glycosylation-related genes on different cell populations obtained from mouse thymus. Among other genes, transcription of the two-domain type galectin-8 was detected both in thymocytes and thymic epithelial cells, which was confirmed by RT-PCR assays independently carried out on both cell populations. Two splice variants, differing solely in the presence of a nine amino acid insertion in the linker peptide region connecting the two carbohydrate recognition domains (CRDs), were identified from purified thymocytes. Expression of galectin-8 was verified at the protein level in total organ extracts by western-blots of lactosyl-Sepharose purified binders. To explore the possible biological roles of locally produced galectin-8, both splice variants were recombinantly expressed in bacteria and assayed over cultured thymocytes. In spite of their binding to all cell populations, addition of either isoform of galectin-8 to thymocyte cultures induced apoptosis only of the CD4highCD8high cells through caspases pathway activation. All of these effects were prevented by the addition of thiodigalactoside or lactose, thus indicating that the pro-apoptotic activity of galectin-8 was due to the specific interaction of its CRDs with defined cell surface glycans. Together, our results demonstrate intra-thymic expression of galectin-8 in mouse, and suggest an active role for this lectin in shaping the mature T cell repertoire.

Key words: galectin expression / microarray analysis / thymocyte apoptosis


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Biol. Chem.Home page
S. R. Stowell, C. M. Arthur, K. A. Slanina, J. R. Horton, D. F. Smith, and R. D. Cummings
Dimeric Galectin-8 Induces Phosphatidylserine Exposure in Leukocytes through Polylactosamine Recognition by the C-terminal Domain
J. Biol. Chem., July 18, 2008; 283(29): 20547 - 20559.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Biol. Chem.Home page
S. Bi, L. A. Earl, L. Jacobs, and L. G. Baum
Structural Features of Galectin-9 and Galectin-1 That Determine Distinct T Cell Death Pathways
J. Biol. Chem., May 2, 2008; 283(18): 12248 - 12258.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.