The Journal of Experimental Medicine
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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007/1997/5/1851/ $5.00
The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Volume 185, Number 10, May 19, 1997 1851-1858

Articles

Galectin-1, an Endogenous Lectin Produced by Thymic Epithelial Cells, Induces Apoptosis of Human Thymocytes

Nancy L. Perillo*, Christel H. Uittenbogaart§, Julie T. Nguyen*, and Linda G. Baum*,{ddagger}

From the * Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, {ddagger} Molecular Biology Institute, and § Departments of Pediatrics, Microbiology and Immunology and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90095

Galectin-1, a β-galactoside binding protein, is produced by thymic epithelial cells and binds to human thymocytes. We have previously reported that galectin-1 induces the apoptosis of activated T lymphocytes. Because the majority of thymocytes die via apoptosis while still within the thymus, we tested whether galectin-1 could induce the apoptosis of these cells. We now report that in vitro exposure to galectin-1 induced apoptosis of two subsets of CD4lo CD8lo thymocytes. The phenotypes of susceptible thymocytes were consistent with that of both negatively selected and nonselected cells. Galectin-1–induced apoptosis was enhanced by preexposure of thymocytes to antibody to CD3, suggesting that galectin-1 may be a participant in T-cell– receptor mediated apoptosis. In contrast, pretreatment of thymocytes with dexamethasone had no effect on galectin-1 susceptibility. We noted that 71% of the cells undergoing apoptosis after galectin-1 treatment had a DNA content greater than 2N, indicating that proliferating thymocytes were most sensitive to galectin-1. We propose that galectin-1 plays a role in the apoptosis of both negatively selected and nonselected thymocytes, and that the susceptibility of thymocytes to galectin-1 is regulated, in part, by entry or exit from the cell cycle.

Address correspondence to Linda G. Baum, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095.

1 Abbreviations used in this paper: 7-AAD, 7-amino actinomycin D; DP, double positive; DN, double negative; DTT, dithiothreitol; LAMPS, lysosome associated membrane proteins; PI, propidium iodide; SP, single positive; TdT, terminal deoxytransferase; TE, thymic epithelial; TUNEL, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated dUTP nick end-labeling.


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