Department of Immunology, Medical College of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China.
Editorial Office of Journal of Qingdao University (Medical Science), Qingdao, China.
Scand J Immunol. 2020 Apr;91(4):e12825. doi: 10.1111/sji.12825. Epub 2020 Feb 5.
T cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain-containing molecule 3 (TIM-3) is found expression in the surface of terminally differentiated T cells and belongs to the TIM family of type Ⅰ transmembrane proteins. It binds to the ligand Galectin-9 and mediates T cell apoptosis. As the research progresses, TIM-3 is also expressed in Th17, NK, monocyte, which binds to ligand and induce immune peripheral tolerance in both mice and man. Numerous researches have demonstrated that TIM-3 influences liver diseases, including liver-associated chronic viral infection, liver fibrosis, liver cancer et al and suggest new approaches to intervention. Currently, targeted therapy of TIM-3 is a new treatment in the field of immunization. Although many studies have proven that TIM-3 has an inhibitory effect in vivo, the specific mechanism is not clear. Herein, we summarize the important role of TIM-3 in the regulation of liver disease and prospects for future clinical research. TIM-3 will provide new targets for improving clinical liver disease.
T 细胞免疫球蛋白域和粘蛋白域包含分子 3（TIM-3）在终末分化 T 细胞的表面表达，属于Ⅰ型跨膜蛋白 TIM 家族。它与配体半乳糖凝集素-9（Galectin-9）结合并介导 T 细胞凋亡。随着研究的进展，TIM-3 在 Th17、NK、单核细胞中也有表达，与配体结合，在小鼠和人中诱导免疫外周耐受。大量研究表明 TIM-3 影响肝脏疾病，包括与肝脏相关的慢性病毒感染、肝纤维化、肝癌等，并为干预提供了新的途径。目前，TIM-3 的靶向治疗是免疫领域的一种新的治疗方法。虽然许多研究已经证明 TIM-3 在体内具有抑制作用，但具体机制尚不清楚。在此，我们总结了 TIM-3 在调节肝脏疾病中的重要作用和未来临床研究的前景。TIM-3 将为改善临床肝脏疾病提供新的靶点。
