Figure 11.

Proposed model for galectin-3 in the regulation of cytokine expression in DCs. On ligand-mediated DC activation, galectin-3 in the cell cytosol may be recruited to membrane components, as previously demonstrated with Ras-GTP.^45,47 At the membrane, galectin-3 may participate in the reorganization of membrane proteins or may act as a protein scaffold and subsequently influence downstream signal transduction. In association with Ras-GTP, galectin-3 aids in the formation of Ras nanoclusters, which promotes the efficient activation of Raf-1. By means of p65 phosphorylation, Raf-1 negatively regulates IL-23 expression.