Chemokines are an extended group of chemoattractant cytokines responsible for the recruitment of leukocytes into tissues. Among them, interferon-γ-inducible protein 10 (CXCL10) is abundantly expressed following inflammatory stimuli and participates in the trafficking of monocytes and activated T cells into sites of injury. Here, we report that different members of the galectin family of carbohydrate-binding proteins promote the expression and synthesis of CXCL10 independently of interferon-γ. Interestingly, CXCL10 induction was observed when galectins came in contact with stromal fibroblasts isolated from human cornea but not other cell types such as epithelial, monocytic or endothelial cells. Induction of CXCL10 by the tandem repeat galectin-8 was primarily associated with the chemotactic migration of THP-1 monocytic cells, whereas the prototype galectin-1 promoted the CXCL10-dependent migration of Jurkat T cells. These results highlight the potential importance of the galectin signature in dictating the recruitment of specific leukocyte populations into precise tissue locations.
Keywords: CXCL10; T cell; chemotaxis; galectins; monocytes.