The galectins constitute a large family of carbohydrate-binding proteins with specificity for N-acetyl-lactosamine-containing glycoproteins. Galectin-8, also known as prostate carcinoma tumor antigen 1 (PCTA1) in human, is a tandem repeat-type galectin. Galectin-8 is highly expressed in lung carcinomas, certain forms of prostate carcinomas, as well as other tumor cells. It binds to a subset of cell surface integrins to modulate ECM-integrin interactions. As a soluble ligand, Galectin-8 can inhibit cell adhesion. Immobilized Galectin-8, however, has also been shown to promote cell adhesion.
