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Galectin-3 induces neurodevelopmental apical-basal polarity and regulates gyrification

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Apical-basal polarity (ABP) establishment and maintenance is necessary for proper brain development, yet how it is controlled is unclear. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) has been previously implicated in ABP of epithelial cells, and, here, we find that it is apically expressed in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) during neural induction. Gal-3 blockade disrupts ABP and alters the distribution of junctional proteins in hESC-derived neural rosettes and is rescued by addition of recombinant Gal-3. Transcriptomics analysis shows that blocking Gal-3 regulates expression of genes responsible for nervous system development and cell junction assembly, among others. Last, Gal-3 blockade during embryonic development in vivo reduces horizontal cell divisions, disturbs cortical layering of neural progenitors, and induces gyrification. These data uncover a regulatory mechanism for ABP in the brain and warrant caution in modulating Gal-3 during pregnancy.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adt5859
Authors: Luana Campos Soares, Ning Huang, Hana Bernhardova, Viviana Macarelli, Marva Chan, Lara Nikel, Sara Bandiera, Dongnan Yan, Dhanu Gupta, Elisa M. Cruz, Talia Vasaturo-Kolodner, James M. Hillis, Matthew Wood, Mootaz Salman, Zoltán Molnár, Eric O’Neill, Francis G. Szele
Institutions: University of Oxford, UK Dementia Research Institute, Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Stanford University, Yale University, Karolinska Institutet, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital
Language: English
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
OpenAlex ID: W4413973022
FWCI: 1.391
Cites: 92
Cited by: 4
Related to: 10