Finally, despite the RT-PCR analysis suggesting the presence of two transcripts of galectin-8 in all cancer cell lines, the corresponding approximately 36 kDa protein was only detectable in the nuclear and cytosolic fractions upon cell fractionation.
The level of galectin-8 expression may correlate with the malignancy of human colon cancers and the degree of differentiation of lung squamous cell carcinomas and neuro-endocrine tumors.
The data indicate that the levels of galectin-1 and galectin-3 expression significantly change during the progression of malignancy in human astrocytic tumors, while that of galectin-8 remains unchanged.