La galectine-9 se lie aux récepteurs agonistes de TRAIL et régule l'apoptose induite par TRAIL

APO2L/TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) arouses great interest in cancer therapy. This protein induces apoptosis in tumor cells through DR4 or DR5, two transmembrane glycoproteins that harbor N- and O- glycosylations, respectively. The glycosylation of DR4 or DR5 receptors is likely to allow unforseen protein/protein interactions. For instance, galectins, owing to their ability to bind to oligosaccharides, can interact with glycoproteins, and are therefore potentially able to regulate TRAIL pro-apoptotic machinery in tumor cells. Given in addition that conventional chemotherapeutic drugs such as 5-fluorouracil (5FU), often restore or increase TRAIL-induced apoptosis, but that th…