| First Author | Tsai CM | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 181 |
| Issue | 7 | Pages | 4570-9 |
| PubMed ID | 18802059 | Mgi Jnum | J:141296 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3818092 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.181.7.4570 |
| Citation | Tsai CM, et al. (2008) Galectin-1 promotes immunoglobulin production during plasma cell differentiation. J Immunol 181(7):4570-9 |
| abstractText | Galectin-1, a beta-galactoside-binding soluble lectin, has been implicated in regulating immune system homeostasis. We investigated the function of galectin-1 in plasma cell differentiation and found that it is induced in primary murine and human differentiating B cells. B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein-1 (Blimp-1), a master regulator for plasma cell differentiation, was necessary and sufficient to induce galectin-1 expression. Notably, ectopic expression of galectin-1 in mature B cells increased Ig mu-chain transcript levels as well as the overall level of Ig production. This function of galectin-1 was dependent on binding to cell surface glycosylated counter receptors, as a galectin-1 mutant deficient in beta-galactoside binding showed diminished ability to promote Ig production. Extracellular galectin-1 bound more significantly to mature B cells than to plasma cells. Lastly, we found that the sugar compound N-acetyllactosamine blocked the binding of galectin-1 to murine splenic B cells and inhibited their differentiation. Taken together, these data are the first to demonstrate a role for galectin-1 in promoting Ig production during plasma cell differentiation. |
