title: Regulation of T-cell immunity by T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain proteins.
abstract: The ability of T helper (TH) precursor cells to differentiate into T effector populations confers the adaptive immune system with a means to protect the host from microbes and react to "foreign" antigenic tissues. T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain (TIM) proteins have recently been shown to be novel and critical regulators of T cell subset-driven dependent immune responsiveness. A dichotomy is emerging as to how Tim-3- and Tim-2- related signals respectively impact TH1 and TH2 responses. By comparison, the influence of the Tim-1 pathway seems to be broader and is probably not restricted to a specific type of T helper response. Beyond the mere control of the TH1/TH2 balance, Tim proteins are likely to target other regulatory components of the T cell response. Likewise, it is tempting to speculate that Tim proteins might also modulate the function of other T helper cell subsets such as TH3, TR1 and TH17 cells, among others.
authors.affiliation: Division of Transplant Immunology, Harvard Medical School, and Transplant Research Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115, USA
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Degauque
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mariat
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kenny
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Fueyo
authors.forename: Sophoclis P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Alexopoulos
authors.forename: Vijay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kuchroo
authors.forename: Xin-Xiao
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Terry B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Strom
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007162:Immunoproteins / Q000276:immunology*; D009077:Mucins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology*; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007162:Immunoproteins; D009077:Mucins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface