Eosinophil Proteins

Galectin-10 is released in the nasal lavage fluid of patients with aspirin-sensitive respiratory disease

The aim of this work was to determine the presence of galectin-10 in nasal lavage fluid (NLF) of patients with aspirin-sensitive respiratory disease (ASRD) before and after challenge with L-ASA (aspirin) by ELISA. Fifteen ASRD patients, ten aspirin-tolerant asthmatics (ATA), and fifteen healthy controls (HC) were studied. The baseline presence of Galectin-10 in PBMC was determined using real time PCR. Galectin-10 was evaluated in tissue of nasal polyps by western blot. Our results showed a lower expression in PBMC of ASRD patients than in ATA and healthy controls. However, a higher concentration of galectin-10 in NLF was found in ASRD patients before and after L-ASA challenge; western blot confirmed a high expression of galectin-10 in tissue from nasal polyps obtained from ASRD patients. Our results suggest a probable role of galectin-10 in the inflammatory response observed in ASRD patients; however, confirmatory studies are needed.

Potential roles of galectins in myeloid differentiation into three different lineages

Little is known about the roles of galectins, a family of beta-galactoside-binding lectins, in myeloid cell differentiation. In the present experiments, we used HL-60 cells as a model of myeloid cell differentiation. The HL-60 cells were differentiated into eosinophil-, monocyte-, and neutrophil-like cells by coculture with sodium butyrate under a mild alkaline condition, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, and dimethyl sulfoxide, respectively. Thus, the expression of galectins in HL-60 cells during differentiation into three different lineages was assessed. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed that undifferentiated HL-60 cells expressed galectin-1, -3, -8, -9, and -10 (identical to Charcot Leyden crystal) mRNAs, and galectin-2, -4, and -7 were negligible before and after the differentiations. We failed to detect evident changes in the mRNA levels of galectin-1 and -8 during the differentiations. However, during the eosinophilic differentiation, galectin-9 mRNA expression was gradually decreased, whereas galectin-10 mRNA expression was increased. During the course of monocytic differentiation, galectin-9 mRNA expression was down-regulated, whereas galectin-3 mRNA expression was up-regulated. Moreover, only galectin-10 mRNA expression was enhanced in the process of neutrophilic differentiation. These changes in galectin expressions were confirmed by Western blot and flow cytometry analyses. It is thus suggested that changes in the expressions of galectin-3, -9, and -10 are potentially important for myeloid cell differentiation into specific lineages.