Silencing Galactin-1 could be effective in suppressing Glioblastoma

A group from Department of Cancer Biology and Pharmacology, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL USA, etc. has reported that Galectin-1 activates carbonic anhydrase IX and modulates glioma metabolism.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9247167/

Galectin 1 (Gal-1) and Galectin 3 (Gal-3) have been studied in relation to Glioblastoma (GBM). Gal-1 binds intact β-galactose molecules on the cell surface and extracellular matrix. Accumulating evidence shows that Gal-1 plays an important role in cancer (colon, breast, lung, head and neck, prostate cancer, and GBM) since its expression correlates with tumor aggressiveness such as proliferation, invasion and progression.

This report highlights that Gal-1 plays an important role in GBM Stem Cell (GSC) metabolism through mechanisms mediated by carbonic anhydrase IX (CA-IX), the surrogate marker of hypoxia. Gal-1 is under the transcriptional control of HIF-1α, and in turn, Gal-1 exerts its metabolic influence via physical association with CA-IX. Silencing Gal-1 reverses the Warburg effect by reducing the expression of CA-IX. Thus, targeting the Gal-1/CA-IX signaling pathway provides a new strategy for reversing the Warburg effect in GBM and inhibiting the progression of GSC-induced cancer growth.


where, GAPHD: Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; NPC: neural progenitor cells

Silencing Gal-1 made to live longer in mice models.