Lectins, of either plant or animal origin, are carbohydrate-binding proteins that interact with glycoproteins and glycolipids on the surface of animal cells.
The Galectins are lectins that recognize and interact with β-galactoside moieties.
Galectin-3 regulates a number of biological processes, including embryogenesis, inflammatory responses, cell progression and metastasis.
Galectin-3 is normally expressed in epithelia of a variety of tissues, including colon and endometrium, and in various inflammatory cells, including macrophages.
Galectin-3 can function intracellularly, controlling the cell cycle and preventing T-cell apoptosis, and also extracellularly, by activating various cells, including monocytes/macrophages, mast cells, neutrophils, and lymphocytes.
Expression of Galectin-3 is affected by neoplastic transformation, being up-regulated in certain types of lymphomas, and in thyroid and hepatic carcinomas.
Conversely, it is down-regulated in other cancers such as colon, breast, ovarian, and uterine.
The BioGems Human Galectin-3 Pre-Coated ELISA （Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay） kit is a solid phase immunoassay specially designed to measure Galectin-3 with a 96-well strip plate that is pre-coated with mouse monoclonal antibody specific for Galectin-3.
It contains E.coli-expressed recombinant Galectin-3.
The detection antibody is a biotinylated goat polyclonal antibody specific for Galectin-3.
The kit is analytically validated with ready to use reagents.
