Galectins are among the most abundant excretory/secretory (ES) products of filarial worms, but their role in filarial biology is poorly understood. Galectin-2 (Lec-2), a major component of Brugia malayi extracellular vesicles, is released by filarial worms, and was recently identified in the serum of persons with loiasis. We therefore sought to clone and characterize Lec-2, and to develop reagents to examine its potential as a biomarker and its role in parasite biology. We cloned and expressed recombinant B. malayi Lec-2 (rBmLec-2), generated a Lec-2-specific monoclonal antibody (4B4), and used it to confirm the presence of Lec-2 in B. malayi ES products and whole worm lysate. We show that Lec-2 is absent in B. malayi oocytes, and increases in concentration as embryos mature. Recombinant BmLec-2 hemagglutinates rabbit red blood cells at concentrations less than 1 μg/mL, and this is abrogated by single amino acid substitutions in the predicted carbohydrate recognition domains. rBmLec-2 binds multiple LacNAc oligosaccharides on a mammalian carbohydrate array. Sera from 17/23 (78 %) persons with microfilaremic loiasis and 4/10 (40 %) persons with bancroftian filariasis had detectable antibody to Lec-2 by western blot. Our studies confirm the functionality of BmLec-2 and indicate anti-Lec-2 antibody responses are common in persons with filariasis. These studies set the stage for further examination of the role of Lec-2 in filarial biology and in filarial-host interactions.

半乳凝集素是丝虫最丰富的排泄/分泌（ES）产物之一，但人们对它们在丝状生物学中的作用了解甚少。Galectin-2（Lec-2）是马来氏布鲁氏菌胞外囊泡的主要成分，由丝虫释放，最近在患有丝囊炎的人的血清中被发现。因此，我们寻求克隆和表征Lec-2，并开发试剂以检查其作为生物标记物的潜力及其在寄生虫生物学中的作用。我们克隆并表达了重组的马来西亚芽孢杆菌Lec-2（rBmLec-2），生成了Lec-2特异性单克隆抗体（4B4），并用于证实Lec-2在马来西亚芽孢杆菌ES产品和整个蠕虫中的存在。溶解物。我们表明，LEC-2不存在的马来丝虫卵母细胞，并随着胚胎成熟浓度增加。重组BmLec-2会以小于1μg/ mL的浓度血凝兔红细胞，并且在预测的碳水化合物识别域中被单个氨基酸取代所消除。rBmLec-2在哺乳动物碳水化合物阵列上结合多个LacNAc寡糖。来自17/23（78％）有微丝丝虫病的人和4/10（40％）班克罗夫特丝虫病的人的血清通过Western blot检测到了对Lec-2的抗体。我们的研究证实了BmLec-2的功能，并表明抗Lec-2抗体反应在丝虫病患者中很常见。这些研究为进一步检查Lec-2在丝状生物学和丝状-宿主相互作用中的作用奠定了基础。