He Changjun, Qiao Haiquan, Jiang Hongchi, Sun Xueying
The Hepatosplenic Surgery Center, Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, China.
Clin Dev Immunol. 2011;2011:695834. doi: 10.1155/2011/695834. Epub 2011 Oct 13.
B7-H4 is one of the most recently identified members of B7 superfamily of costimulatory molecules serving as an inhibitory modulator of T-cell response. B7-H4 is broadly expressed in human peripheral tissues and inducibly expressed in immune cells. The expression of B7-H4 has been observed in various types of human cancer tissues, and its soluble form has been detected in blood samples from cancer patients. However, its precise physiological role is still elusive, as its receptor has not been identified and the expression levels are not consistent. This paper summarizes the pertinent data on the inhibitory role of B7-H4 in antitumor immunity and its association with cancer progression and survival in human patients. The paper also discusses the clinical significance of investigating B7-H4 as potential markers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, and as therapeutic targets.
B7-H4是共刺激分子B7超家族中最近发现的成员之一，作为T细胞反应的抑制性调节因子。B7-H4在人类外周组织中广泛表达，并在免疫细胞中可诱导表达。在各种类型的人类癌症组织中均观察到B7-H4的表达，并且在癌症患者的血液样本中检测到其可溶性形式。然而，由于其受体尚未确定且表达水平不一致，其确切的生理作用仍然难以捉摸。本文总结了关于B7-H4在抗肿瘤免疫中的抑制作用及其与人类患者癌症进展和生存的相关性的相关数据。本文还讨论了将B7-H4作为癌症诊断和预后的潜在标志物以及治疗靶点进行研究的临床意义。
