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Introduction to galectins.
Good evidence suggest roles of galectins in cancer, immunity and inflammation, and development, but a unifying picture of their biological function is lacking. Instead galectins appear to have a particularly diverse, bewildering but intriguing array of activities both inside and outside cells--"clear truths and mysteries are inextricably twined". Fortunately this has not discouraged but rather enthused a large number of good galectin researchers, some of which have contributed to this special issue of Glycoconjugate Journal to provide a personal, critical status of the field. Here we will give a brief introduction to the galectins as a protein family with some comments on nomenclature.
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