Glycobiology of cell death: when glycans and lectins govern cell fate

Although one typically thinks of carbohydrates as associated with cell growth and viability, glycosylation also has an integral role in many processes leading to cell death. Glycans, either alone or complexed with glycan-binding proteins, can deliver intracellular signals or control extracellular processes that promote initiation, execution and resolution of cell death programs. Herein, we review the role of glycans and glycan-binding proteins as essential components of the cell death machinery during physiologic and pathologic settings.Fil: Lichtenstein, Rachel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Faculty of Engineering. Department of Biotechnology Engineering; IsraelFil: Rabinovich, Gabriel Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (i); Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Quimica Biologica; Argentin

Turning 'sweet' on immunity: galectin–glycan interactions in immune tolerance and inflammation

The function of deciphering the biological information encoded by the glycome, which is the entire repertoire of complex sugar structures expressed by cells and tissues, is assigned in part to endogenous glycan-binding proteins or lectins. Galectins, a family of animal lectins that bind N-acetyllactosamine-containing glycans, have many roles in diverse immune cell processes, including those relevant to pathogen recognition, shaping the course of adaptive immune responses and fine-tuning the inflammatory response. How do galectins translate glycan-encoded information into tolerogenic or inflammatory cell programmes? An improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying these functions will provide further opportunities for developing new therapies based on the immunoregulatory properties of this multifaceted protein family.Fil: Rabinovich, Gabriel Adrián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Toscano, Marta Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentin