Galectins detection for the diagnosis of chronic diseases: An emerging biosensor approach

Galectins are an ancient family of lectins characterized by the specific binding of β-galactosides through evolutionarily conserved sequence elements of the carbohydrate recognition domain. Interest in this protein family is growing due to the crucial role of galectins not only as therapeutic agents but also as biomarkers of the inflammatory stage occurring in several diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. For this reason, the biosensing of galectin becomes crucial for the evaluation of a pathological state as well as for the follow-up of a therapeutic treatment. The design of biosensors for galectin detection is becoming a reality in recent years, as complementary analytical tools to be exploited at the point of need to support laboratory setup methodologies. This review reports the latest trends in biosensing systems for galectins based on different natural and artificial bioreceptors, integrated into different transduction systems and exploiting nanomaterials to improve analytical performance.