2. Academic Validation
  3. Galectin-1: An important regulator in myeloid differentiation and acute myeloid leukemia as well as a promising prognostic indicator and therapeutic target

Galectin-1: An important regulator in myeloid differentiation and acute myeloid leukemia as well as a promising prognostic indicator and therapeutic target

  • Int Immunopharmacol. 2025 Jun 17:158:114835. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2025.114835.
Lulu Liu 1,  Panpan Cheng 2,  Junjie Cui 3,  Saisai Ren 2,  Mingkang Yao 2,  Ling Li 2,  Hui Zhou 2,  Xianning Zhang 4,  Xianyun Qin 4,  Yaqi Liu 4,  Hao Zhang 5,  Lina Wang 6,  Mingtai Chen 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Medical Research Center, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining 272000, Shandong Province, PR China; Key laboratory of cell and biomedical Technology of Shandong Province, PR China.
  • 2 Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining 272000, Shandong Province, PR China.
  • 3 Department of Hematology, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai 264000, Shandong Province, PR China.
  • 4 Medical Research Center, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining 272000, Shandong Province, PR China.
  • 5 Key laboratory of cell and biomedical Technology of Shandong Province, PR China; Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining 272000, Shandong Province, PR China; Jining Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Immunology, Jining 272000, Shandong Province, PR China.
  • 6 Medical Research Center, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining 272000, Shandong Province, PR China. Electronic address: wanglina_china@163.com.
  • 7 Medical Research Center, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining 272000, Shandong Province, PR China; Key laboratory of cell and biomedical Technology of Shandong Province, PR China; Jining Key Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Immunology, Jining 272000, Shandong Province, PR China. Electronic address: chenmt3153@mail.jnmc.edu.cn.
PMID: 40378432 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2025.114835
Abstract

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive and heterogeneous hematological malignancy with a low survival probability and limited therapeutic options. Although Galectin-1 (LGALS1) has been implicated in tumor cell survival and immune evasion in solid tumor, its role in AML is still unclear. In this study, we found that LGALS1 presents prominent upregulation in AML patients at both mRNA and protein levels compared with the control samples. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that high expression of LGALS1 is a significant unfavorable prognostic factor for overall survival in AML, correlating with adverse clinical and genetic features as well as immune cell infiltration. Depletion of LGALS1 in AML cells impeded cell proliferation, induced Apoptosis and promoted myeloid differentiation. Treatment with OTX008, an LGALS1 inhibitor, markedly diminished the viability of primary malignant bone marrow cells from AML patients. Notably, LGALS1 expression was significantly reduced exclusively in AML-M5 patients after treatment, which may be due to its higher expression in AML-M5 subtype compared to Other FAB subtypes. In summary, our findings indicate that LGALS1 could serve as an independent prognostic risk factor and a promising therapeutic target in AML, providing novel insights into AML pathogenesis and laying the foundation for the development of new therapeutic strategies.

Keywords

Acute myeloid leukemia; LGALS1; Myeloid differentiation; OTX008; Prognosis.

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