IJMS, Vol. 27, Pages 417: Correlation of Galectin Family Expression with Glioblastoma Progression and Survival

International Journal of Molecular Sciences doi: 10.3390/ijms27010417

Authors:
Peter Curpen
Farah Ahmady
Blaine M. H. Carnie
Grace E. C. Anderson
George Kannourakis
Amit Sharma
Adrian A. Achuthan
Rodney B. Luwor

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive primary brain malignancy, characterised by extensive intra-tumoural heterogeneity, therapy resistance, and a profoundly immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment. The galectin family, a group of β-galactoside-binding lectins, has emerged as a key regulator of tumour biology, influencing oncogenesis, immune modulation, and therapy resistance. In this study, we performed an integrative bioinformatics analysis to systematically evaluate the expression patterns, prognostic significance, genetic alterations, and functional roles of galectin family members in glioblastoma. We utilised publicly available genomic datasets and computational tools to perform our analysis, including UALCAN, GEPIA, cBioPortal, STRING, GeneMANIA, DAVID, and TIMER. We identified LGALS1, LGALS3, and LGALS9 as significantly upregulated in glioblastoma, with their overexpression correlating with adverse patient survival. Functional enrichment analysis highlighted galectin-mediated pathways involved in extracellular matrix remodelling, immune dysregulation, tumour-promoting pathways, and protein processing, suggesting their pivotal role in glioblastoma pathogenesis. We also show that transcriptional and immunological signatures suggest that galectins may regulate glioblastoma immunosuppression, extracellular matrix remodelling, and protein homeostasis. Our findings provide novel insights into the oncogenic and immunoregulatory roles of galectins in glioblastoma, establishing their potential as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

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Peter Curpen www.mdpi.com