Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 5, 2026

Glycan Node Analysis: A Bottom-up Approach to Glycomics
Published on: May 22, 2016
Roles of galectin-3 in metabolic disorders and tumor cell metabolism
Ying-Shuang Li1, Xiao-Tong Li1, Lu-Gang Yu2
1Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China.
Abstract:
The galactoside-binding protein galectin-3 is commonly overexpressed by cancer cells and promotes cancer progression and metastasis. Over the past few years, evidence has emerged that galectin-3 is also overexpressed in several metabolic malfunction conditions such as diabetes, obesity and atherosclerosis and is involved in the regulation of the occurrence and development of these diseases. Recently, Galectin-3 expression is shown also to be associated with glycolysis and mitochondrial metabolism in tumors, and promotes tumor metabolic reprogramming for their adaption to the microenvironment stress imposed by oxygen and nutrients deprivation. This brief review summarizes the current understanding of the roles and actions of galectin-3 in these metabolic diseases and in tumor metabolism.
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Carbohydrate Metabolism
Glucose transport into cells is facilitated by a family of transport proteins called GLUT (Glucose Transporters). GLUT4 is the primary glucose transporter for insulin-stimulated glucose...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway
Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions
CAM Families
The Integrin family of proteins is primarily involved...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Proteoglycans

