Background: Galectin-3 is a lectin that presents pivotal roles in tumor biology and there are no studies evaluating their expression in dysplasias and carcinomas developed from tongue carcinogenesis models. Aims: To investigate the role of galectin-3 in the development of tongue carcinomas using a mouse model of oral carcinogenesis. Methods: Galectin-3-deficient (gal3-/-) and wild-type (gal3+/+) mice were challenged with 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide in drinking water for 16weeks and killed at different times. Tongues were removed and the number of dysplasias and carcinomas was counted. An immunohistochemical study for galectin-3 was performed only in the tongue from gal3+/+ mice. Results: In both groups, a reduction of dysplasias and an increase of carcinomas from week 16 to week 32 (p > 0.05) were observed. A predominance of high cytoplasmic and nuclear galectin-3 expression was observed in carcinomas (64.7%) and dysplasias (55.5%), respectively (p > 0.05). The perilesional areas always presented a statistical cytoplasmic and nuclear galectin-3 overexpression. Conclusions: Absence of galectin-3 did not directly affect the process of carcinogenesis and a cytoplasm shift of galectin-3 seems to be associated with development of tongue carcinomas. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.
CITATION STYLE
de Faria, P. R., Chammas, R., de Melo, T. L., Hsu, D. K., Liu, F. T., Nonogaki, S., … Loyola, A. M. (2011). Absence of galectin-3 does not affect the development of experimental tongue carcinomas in mice. Experimental and Molecular Pathology, 90(2), 189–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yexmp.2010.12.007
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