Table 1.

Structure and function of galectins found in humans [14, 69].

Galectin	Subfamily	Function	Main tissue distribution
Gal-1	Prototypical	Regulation of apoptosis Cellular proliferation and differentiation	Nonspecific
Gal-2	Prototypical	Unknown	Gastrointestinal Urogenital
Gal-3	Chimeric	Immunomodulation and recognition of cell membrane damage	Macrophages Fetal membranes Gastrointestinal
Gal-4	Tandem-repeat	Adherens junction formation	Gastrointestinal
Gal-7	Prototypical	Regulation of apoptosis Control of cell growth	Skin Oesophagus
Gal-8	Tandem-repeat	Recognition of cell membrane damage Restricts infection by viral and bacterial pathogens	Nonspecific
Gal-9	Tandem-repeat	Immunomodulation Bactericidal	Gastrointestinal
Gal-10	Prototypical	Immunoregulation Forms Charcot-Leyden crystals in eosinophils	Bone marrow
Gal-12	Tandem-repeat	Regulation of apoptosis	Adipose Breast
Gal-13	Prototypical	Regulation of apoptosis∗	Placenta
Gal-14	Prototypical	Regulation of apoptosis∗	Placenta
Gal-16	Monomer	Regulation of apoptosis∗	Placenta

^∗Strong regulator of T-cell apoptosis.