Description |
Galectins constitute a family of conserved animal lectins, which are characterized by their affinity for poly-N-acetyllactosamine-enriched glycoconjugates and sequence similarities in the carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD). In vertebrates, the Galectin family consists of 15 members. Galectins have been classified into three types: 1) Prototype monomeric galectins with a single polypeptide chain that dimerize (Galectin-1, -2, -5, -7, -10, -11, -13 -14, and -15), 2) Tandem repeat galectins composed of a single polypeptide chain with two CRDs, which are joined by a linker peptide (Galectin-4, -6, -8, -9, and -12), and c) Chimeric galectin, which thus far contains only Galectin-3 and consists of one C-terminal CRD linked to a N-terminal domain
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