Galectins are among organisms' most abundantly expressed lectins (carbohydrate‐binding proteins) that specifically bind β‐galactosides. They act not only outside the cell, where they bind to extracellular matrix glycans, but also inside the cell, where they have a significant impact on signaling pathways. Galectin‐8 is a galectin family protein encoded by the LGALS8 gene. Its role is evident in both T‐ and B‐cell immunity and in the innate immune response, where it acts directly on dendritic cells and induces some pro‐inflammatory cytokines. Galectin‐8 also plays an important role in the defense against bacterial and viral infections. It is known to promote antibacterial autophagy by recognizing and binding glycans present on the vacuolar membrane, thus acting as a danger receptor. The most important role of galectin‐8 is the regulation of cancer growth, metastasis, tumor progression, and tumor cell survival. Importantly, the expression of galectins is typically higher in tumor tissues than in noncancerous tissues. In this review article, we focus on galectin‐8 and its function in immune response, microbial infections, and cancer. Given all of these functions of galectin‐8, we emphasize the importance of developing new and selective galectin‐8 inhibitors and report the current status of their development.

中文翻译：

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Galectin-8 抑制及其在免疫反应和肿瘤生物学中的作用

半乳糖凝集素是生物体中表达最丰富的凝集素（碳水化合物结合蛋白）之一，可特异性结合 β-半乳糖苷。它们不仅在细胞外发挥作用，与细胞外基质聚糖结合，而且还在细胞内发挥作用，对信号通路产生重大影响。 Galectin-8 是半乳糖凝集素家族蛋白，由LGALS8基因。它在 T 细胞和 B 细胞免疫以及先天免疫反应中的作用都很明显，它直接作用于树突状细胞并诱导一些促炎细胞因子。 Galectin-8 在防御细菌和病毒感染方面也发挥着重要作用。已知它通过识别和结合液泡膜上存在的聚糖来促进抗菌自噬，从而充当危险受体。半乳糖凝集素-8最重要的作用是调节癌症生长、转移、肿瘤进展和肿瘤细胞存活。重要的是，半乳糖凝集素在肿瘤组织中的表达通常高于非癌组织。在这篇综述文章中，我们重点关注半乳糖凝集素-8 及其在免疫反应、微生物感染和癌症中的功能。鉴于半乳糖凝集素 8 的所有这些功能，我们强调开发新型选择性半乳糖凝集素 8 抑制剂的重要性，并报告其开发现状。