@article{23586,
  keywords = {leprosy, Immune response, Human monocytes., Galectin-3},
  author = {Chung A and Sieling PA and Schenk M and Teles R and Krutzik SR and Hsu D and Liu F and Sarno E and Stenger S and Modlin RL and Lee DJ},
  title = {Galectin-3 regulates the innate immune response of human monocytes.},
  abstract = {Galectin-3 is a β-galactoside binding lectin widely expressed on epithelial and hematopoietic cells and its expression is frequently associated with a poor prognosis in cancer. Since it has not been well-studied in human infectious disease, we examined galectin-3 expression in mycobacterial infection by studying leprosy, an intracellular infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Galectin-3 was highly expressed on macrophages in lesions of patients with the clinically progressive lepromatous form of leprosy; in contrast, galectin-3 was almost undetectable in self-limited tuberculoid lesions. We investigated the potential function of galectin-3 in cell-mediated immunity using peripheral blood monocytes. Galectin-3 enhanced monocyte IL-10 production to a TLR2/1 ligand, while IL-12p40 secretion was unaffected. Furthermore, galectin-3 diminished monocyte to DC differentiation and T cell antigen presentation. These data demonstrate an association of galectin-3 with unfavorable host response in leprosy and a potential mechanism for impaired host defense in humans.},
  year = {2012},
  journal = {The Journal of infectious diseases},
  month = {2012 Dec 18},
  issn = {1537-6613},
  language = {eng},
}