The immune receptor Tim-3 acts as a trafficker in a Tim-3/galectin-9 autocrine loop in human myeloid leukemia cells.
The immune receptor Tim-3 is often highly expressed in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells where it acts as a growth factor and inflammatory receptor. Recently, it has been demonstrated that Tim-3 forms an autocrine loop with its natural ligand galectin-9 in human AML cells. However, the pathophysiological functions of Tim-3 in human AML cells remain unclear. Here, we report for the first time that Tim-3 is required for galectin-9 secretion in human AML cells. However, this effect is cell-type specific and was found so far to be applicable only to myeloid (and not, for example, lymphoid) leukemia cells. We concluded that AML cells might use Tim-3 as a trafficker for the secretion of galectin-9 which can then be possibly used to impair the anticancer activities of cytotoxic T cells and natural killer (NK) cells.
School of Pharmacy, University of Kent , Canterbury, United Kingdom.
Isabel
I
Gonçalves Silva
School of Pharmacy, University of Kent , Canterbury, United Kingdom.
Laura
L
Rüegg
School of Pharmacy, University of Kent , Canterbury, United Kingdom.
Bernhard F
BF
Gibbs
Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Universita' della Svizzera italiana (USI) , Bellinzona, Switzerland.
Marco
M
Bardelli
Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Universita' della Svizzera italiana (USI) , Bellinzona, Switzerland.
Alexander
A
Fruehwirth
Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Universita' della Svizzera italiana (USI) , Bellinzona, Switzerland.
Luca
L
Varani
Department of Pediatric Surgery and Department of Clinical Research, Children's Hospital, Inselspital, University of Bern , Bern, Switzerland.
Steffen M
SM
Berger
Department of Pediatric Surgery and Department of Clinical Research, Children's Hospital, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel and University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Elizaveta
E
Fasler-Kan
School of Pharmacy, University of Kent , Canterbury, United Kingdom.
Vadim V
VV
Sumbayev
Acute myeloid leukemia; Tim-3; galectin-9