A Brief History of Charcot-Leyden Crystal Protein/Galectin-10 Research

Abstract

Eosinophils are present in tissues, such as the respiratory tract, spleen, lymph nodes and blood vessels. The significant presence of eosinophils in these tissues are associated with various diseases, including asthma, allergies, acute myeloid leukemia, etc. Charcot-Leyden crystal protein/galectin-10 is overexpressed in eosinophils and has also been identified in basophils and macrophages. In human body, this protein could spontaneously form Charcot-Leyden crystal in lymphocytes or in the lysates of lymphocytes. At present, the role of Charcot-Leyden crystal protein/galectin-10 in lymphocytes is not fully understood. This review summarizes research progress on Charcot-Leyden crystal protein/galectin-10, with emphasis on its history, cellular distributions, relations to diseases, structures and ligand binding specificity.

Charcot-Leyden crystal protein/galectin-10 interacts with cationic ribonucleases and is required for eosinophil granulogenesis

“…64 Subsequent studies demonstrated that CLC/Gal-10 can weakly (nonspecifically) bind to carbohydrate under several conditions, as in its monomeric state. 65,66 In addition, recent findings indicate that Gal-10 dimerizes with a novel global shape that is different from that of other prototype galectins (eg, Gal-1, Gal-2, and Gal-7) and may essentially inhibit disaccharide binding. 65,67 The lack of binding to ß-galactosides FIG 6.…”

Analytic Philosophy for Biomedical Research: The Imperative of Applying Yesterday’s Timeless Messages to Today’s Impasses

“…This provides no independent biological way of thinking, because machines presuppose organisms". 23 Again on mechanisms, and responding to Haldane, he remarked that "it is always possible to defend microscopic mechanism in principle, if any one wishes to do so, by making your mechanism complicated enough, and by 'postulating' enough sub-mechanisms to meet all contingencies. It cannot then be refuted, but neither can it be verified.…”

“…So when they see something occurring in Nature at variance with their preconceived ideal of the thing in question, they believe that Nature has then failed or blundered and has left that thing imperfect" [97]. In other words, testing a model against a natural phenomenon is different than testing the said natural phenomenon against the said model, an issue which is as relevant today as it was more than 300 years ago, and harks back to the historical 23 Woodger, J. H. 1929. Biological Principles.…”

“…By 'complexity' I simply mean to indicate the greater number of known (and potentially unknown) variables involved in a given level of investigation of a biological phenomenon5 These crystals were identified in the 1850s[23] …”

Charcot-Leyden Crystal Protein in Nasal Secretions of Patients with Nonallergic Rhinitis with Eosinophilia Syndrome

“…Charcot-Leyden crystal (CLC) protein, also known as galectin-10, is the 10th member of the galectin superfamily of S-type lectins. CLC protein is abundant in the cytoplasm of eosinophils [7, 8] and can be crystallized during cytolytic extracellular trap cell death [9-11], before being released by activated eosinophils. CLC protein has been described for over 150 years in tissue, body fluids, and secretions of patients with a variety of eosinophilic lesions, including asthma [12], AR [13, 14], chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) [15, 16], and other eosinophil-associated diseases [17], and regarded as a hallmark of eosinophilic inflammation.…”