Autocrine galectin-1 promotes collective cell migration of squamous cell carcinoma cells through up-regulation of distinct integrins

We found that high galectin-1 (Gal-1) mRNA levels were associated with invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells that expressed Snail, an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulator. Both Gal-1 overexpression and soluble Gal-1 treatment accelerated invasion and collective cell migration, along with activation of cdc42 and Rac. Soluble Gal-1 activated c-Jun N-terminal kinase to increase expression levels of integrins α2 and β5, which were essential for Gal-1 dependent collective cell migration and invasiveness. Soluble Gal-1 also increased the incidence of EMT in Snail-expressing SCC cells; these were a minor population with an EMT phenotype under growing conditions. Our findings indicate that soluble Gal-1 promotes invasiveness through enhancing collective cell migration and increasing the incidence of EMT.