Expression of galectins-1, -3 and -4 varies with strain and type of experimental colitis in mice

Galectins are increasingly the focus of biomedical research. Although they are involved at different stages in inflammation, data on galectins in colitis remain scarce. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the expression of galectins in acute and chronic experimental colitis in mice. Immunohistochemistry for galectins-1, -3 and -4 was performed on colon tissue from C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice with acute dextran sodium sulphate colitis and from 129 Sv/Ev IL-10 knock-out (IL-10(-/-)) mice. From these three mouse strains, we first detected major differences in galectin expression related to the genetic background in the control animals. With regard to inflammation, chronic colitis in IL-10(-/-) mice was associated with increased galectin-4 expression; in contrast with the two other models, no galectin-1 and -3 alterations were observed in IL-10(-/-) mice. Acute colitis in C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice showed increased galectin-3 expression in the lamina propria and the crypt epithelium, together with a decreased nuclear expression. These results suggest an involvement of galectins in the development and perpetuation of colonic inflammation and illustrate that the choice of the mouse strain for studying galectins might influence the outcome of the experiments.