# Galectin-9 (LGALS9)

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/lgals9/  
OnCo record `lgals9` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Galectin-9 is a sugar-binding protein that presses TIM-3 on T cells and can kill the helper T cells that carry it. Tumour blood vessels make more of it than normal ones.

## Summary

LGALS9 (chromosome 17q11.2) encodes galectin-9, a galactoside-binding lectin that is the ligand for HAVCR2 (TIM-3); binding induces death of T-helper type 1 lymphocytes. It is expressed in peripheral blood leukocytes and lymphatic tissues and in lung, liver, breast and kidney, with higher levels in tumour endothelial cells than normal endothelium at the protein level (UniProt O00182).

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: galectin 9; Gal-9; LGALS9A
- Tags: checkpoint-map
- Symbol: LGALS9
- Class: checkpoint
- Biology: A tandem-repeat galectin; one of two TIM-3 ligands in this map, with CEACAM1.
- Where found: Leukocytes and lymphatic tissue; tumour endothelium (UniProt O00182)

## Notes

- Prevalence not recorded: HGNC and UniProt carry no positivity rates.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:6570: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:6570
- UniProt O00182: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/O00182/entry
- NCBI Gene 3965: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/3965

## Connected records

- targets: [CEACAM1](https://onco.cc/targets/ceacam1/), [TIM-3](https://onco.cc/targets/tim3/)
- drugs: [Cobolimab](https://onco.cc/drugs/cobolimab/)
- technologies: [TIM-3 blockade](https://onco.cc/technologies/tim3-blockade/)
- pathways: [T-cell exhaustion](https://onco.cc/pathways/t-cell-exhaustion/)
- terms: [Checkpoint (two meanings)](https://onco.cc/terms/checkpoint/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/lgals9.json