A group from Axe of Infectious and Immune Diseases, CHU de Quebec-Université Laval Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, and Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, Laval University, Quebec, Canada etc. has reviewed about the multifaceted roles of galectins in self-defense.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1044532324000642?via%3Dihub#bib63
Unlike other lectins, galectins lack signal peptides, so they are synthesized as soluble, non-glycosylated proteins in the cytosol, where glycan ligands are absent. Further, certain galectins, such as galectin-1 and galectin-3, have been found to translocate to the nucleus under specific conditions. This presents a paradox: galectins’ primary location is in the cytosol, an environment devoid of the glycans they bind.
Interestingly, however, galectins are also capable of reaching the extracellular space via a non-classical, leaderless secretory pathway.
This unique distribution of galectins both inside and outside the cell underscores their versatility, suggesting a layered regulatory mechanism that allows galectin function in host defense to be modulated both by their synthesis and by the spatial control of their access to ligands, extending their evolutionary role beyond traditional glycan recognition.
This must be one of the good reviews about Galectins.