The sweet side of wound healing: galectins as promising therapeutic targets in hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation/remodeling

The reported data make a strong case for directing further efforts to treat excisional and incisional wounds differently. Functions of galectins essentially result from their modular presentation. In fact, Gal-1 seems to play a role in the early phases of healing (anti-inflammatory) and wound contraction, Gal-3 accelerates re-epithelization and increases tensile strength (scar inductor). Galectins have also become subject of redesigning by engineering to optimize the activity. Clinically relevant, these new tools derived from the carbohydrate recognition domain platform may also prove helpful for other purposes, such as potent antibacterial agglutinins and opsonins.