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Lectins and neurodegeneration: A glycobiologist's perspective
Beata Olejnik, Mirosława Ferens-Sieczkowska. Advances in clinical and experimental medicine : official organ Wroclaw Medical University, 2025-05
Topic: Inflammation, microglia and astrocytes
Neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, affect an increasing number of people in aging societies, dramatically reducing the quality of life of those affected. Hence, intensive research efforts are aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms of the disease progress, with the hope for developing effective therapeutic strategies. The progress of neurodegenerative diseases is associated with a complex activity of the immune system in the brain tissue. Carbohydrate-binding proteins (lectins) play a key role in the inflammation-related activation of microglia. Siglecs, maintained in an active state by binding to sialic acid-terminated glycoconjugates, help establish homeostasis by protecting nerve cells from phagocytosis and preventing triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) activation. Upon activation, microglia release sialidase, an enzyme that cleaves sialic acid residues from glycoconjugates, thereby exposing galactose as the next monosaccharide in the glycan chain. After losing siglec-mediated protection, the glycan becomes a ligand for Galectin-3 (Gal-3). Overexpression of this lectin under inflammatory conditions activates TREM2 and TLR4 signaling pathways, enhances the phagocytic activity of microglia and leads to tissue damage. Blocking Gal-3 interactions with the thiodigalactoside inhibitor (TD-139) appears to be a promising novel approach to pharmacologically alleviating neuroinflammation.
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APA 7th
Olejnik, B., & Ferens-Sieczkowska, M. (2025). Lectins and neurodegeneration: A glycobiologist's perspective. Advances in clinical and experimental medicine : official organ Wroclaw Medical University. https://doi.org/10.17219/acem/204107
Vancouver
Olejnik B, Ferens-Sieczkowska M. Lectins and neurodegeneration: A glycobiologist's perspective. Advances in clinical and experimental medicine : official organ Wroclaw Medical University. 2025. doi:10.17219/acem/204107. PMID: 40405515.
BibTeX
@article{olejnik2025-40405515,
author = {Olejnik, Beata and Ferens-Sieczkowska, Mirosława},
title = {{Lectins and neurodegeneration: A glycobiologist's perspective}},
journal = {Advances in clinical and experimental medicine : official organ Wroclaw Medical University},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.17219/acem/204107},
pmid = {40405515},
url = {https://doi.org/10.17219/acem/204107}
}
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Key findings
- The progress of neurodegenerative diseases is associated with a complex activity of the immune system in the brain tissue.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 43/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 24 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 43 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Advances in clinical and experimental medicine : official organ Wroclaw Medical University) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40405515) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 24 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 24 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 43 out of 100. |
| Total | 43 / 100 | — |
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