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Analysis of the Intracellular Role of Galectins in Cell Growth and Apoptosis

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Book cover Galectins

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1207))

Abstract

Galectins are a family of animal lectins with conserved carbohydrate-recognition domains that recognize β-galactosides. Despite structural similarities, these proteins have diverse functions in a variety of cellular processes. While a large number of extracellular functions have been demonstrated for galectins, the existence of intracellular functions has been clearly shown for a number of galectins, including regulation of cell growth and apoptosis; these latter functions may not involve glycan binding. There is considerable interest in intracellular regulation by galectins of cell growth and apoptosis, as these are fundamental cellular processes in normal homeostasis. Their dysregulation can cause pathologies such as autoimmune disorders, cancer, and neural degenerative diseases. Here we describe methods that we routinely perform in the laboratory to investigate the role of galectins in cell growth and apoptosis. These include methods for cell isolation, cell maintenance, and genetic manipulations to perturb galectin gene expression, as well as assays for cell growth and apoptosis.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California

    Daniel K. Hsu, Ri-Yao Yang & Fu-Tong Liu

  2. Department of Rheumatology, School of Medicine, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan

    Jun Saegusa

  3. Department of Dermatology, University of California Davis, School of Medicine, Research III 3100D, 4645 Second Avenue, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Fu-Tong Liu

Authors
  1. Daniel K. Hsu
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  2. Ri-Yao Yang
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  3. Jun Saegusa
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  4. Fu-Tong Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fu-Tong Liu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Transfusion and Cellular Therapies, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Sean R. Stowell

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, Georgia, USA

    Richard D. Cummings

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Hsu, D.K., Yang, RY., Saegusa, J., Liu, FT. (2015). Analysis of the Intracellular Role of Galectins in Cell Growth and Apoptosis. In: Stowell, S., Cummings, R. (eds) Galectins. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1207. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1396-1_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1396-1_29

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1395-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1396-1

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