LGALS3 and atherosclerosis: Extracellularly, Gal-3 acts as a chemotactic factor for various inflammatory cells and promotes the differentiation of endothelial cells and angiogenesis (Zhong et al., 2019), thus contributing to the development and progression of conditions such as tumors, neural degeneration, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and tissue repair (Funasaka et al., 2014).