Xu Li-Yun, Chen Dong-Dong, He Jian-Ying, Lu Chang-Chang, Liu Xiao-Guang, Le Han-Bo, Wang Chao-Ye, Zhang Yong-Kui
Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Zhoushan Hospital, Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China E-mail :
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2014;15(22):9945-8. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2014.15.22.9945.
The purpose of this study was to investigate Tim-3 expression on peripheral CD3-CD56+ natural killer (NK) cells and CD3+CD56+ natural killer T (NKT) cells in lung cancer patients.
We analyzed Tim-3+CD3-CD56+ cells, Tim-3+CD3-CD56dim cells, Tim-3+CD3-CD56bright cells, and Tim- 3+CD3+CD56+ cells in fresh peripheral blood from 79 lung cancer cases preoperatively and 53 healthy controls by flow cytometry. Postoperative blood samples were also analyzed from 21 members of the lung cancer patient cohort.
It was showed that expression of Tim-3 was significantly increased on CD3-CD56+ cells, CD3- CD56dim cells and CD3+CD56+ cells in lung cancer patients as compared to healthy controls (p=0.03, p=0.03 and p=0.04, respectively). When analyzing Tim-3 expression with cancer progression, results revealed more elevated Tim-3 expression in CD3-CD56+ cells, CD3-CD56dim cells and CD3+CD56+ cells in cases with advanced stages (III/IV) than those with stage I and II (p=0.02, p=0.04 and p=0.01, respectively). In addition, Tim-3 expression was significantly reduced on after surgical resection of the primary tumor (p<0.01).
Tim-3 expression in natural killer cells from fresh peripheral blood may provide a useful indicator of disease progression of lung cancer. Furthermore, it was indicated that Tim-3 might be as a therapeutic target.
本研究旨在调查肺癌患者外周血CD3⁻CD56⁺自然杀伤（NK）细胞和CD3⁺CD56⁺自然杀伤T（NKT）细胞上Tim-3的表达情况。
我们通过流式细胞术分析了79例肺癌患者术前新鲜外周血以及53例健康对照中的Tim-3⁺CD3⁻CD56⁺细胞、Tim-3⁺CD3⁻CD56dim细胞、Tim-3⁺CD3⁻CD56bright细胞和Tim-3⁺CD3⁺CD56⁺细胞。还对肺癌患者队列中的21名成员的术后血样进行了分析。
结果显示，与健康对照相比，肺癌患者CD3⁻CD56⁺细胞、CD3⁻CD56dim细胞和CD3⁺CD56⁺细胞上Tim-3的表达显著增加（分别为p = 0.03、p = 0.03和p = 0.04）。在分析Tim-3表达与癌症进展的关系时，结果显示晚期（III/IV期）病例的CD3⁻CD56⁺细胞、CD3⁻CD56dim细胞和CD3⁺CD56⁺细胞中Tim-3表达比I期和II期病例更高（分别为p = 0.02、p = 0.04和p = 0.01）。此外，原发性肿瘤手术切除后Tim-3表达显著降低（p<0.01）。
新鲜外周血自然杀伤细胞中Tim-3的表达可能为肺癌疾病进展提供有用指标。此外，提示Tim-3可能作为一个治疗靶点。
