No studies have reported that galectin-1/LGALS1 directly promotes collagen expression, but galectin-1 indirectly regulates collagen expression through the galectin-1–TGF-β–EMT (epithelial–mesenchymal transition) pathway in many diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy [41], chronic pancreatitis/pancreatic cancer [42], and liver fibrosis [43]. Here, TGFB1 is linked to diabetic retinopathy.