Expression and significance of T-cell immunoglobulin mucin molecule 3 and its ligand galectin-9 in patients with adenomyosis

Abstract

The T cell immunoglobulin mucin molecule 3 (TIM-3), as a negative regulatory immune checkpoint, plays an important role in cellular immunity by binding to its ligand galectin-9 (Gal-9). Under abnormal conditions, this pathway can regulate the depletion of T cells and suppress the immune response. Abnormal expression of TIM-3 and Gal-9 has been confirmed in a variety of cancers, recurrent miscarriages, chronic infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases. More and more studies have shown that immune factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of adenomyosis. However, few studies have attempted to explore their expression in adenomyosis. The ectopic and eutopic endometrium were collected from 15 women with adenomyosis and 13 women without adenomyosis. TIM-3/Gal-9 expression in endometrial tissue was detected using immunohistochemistry, western blot analysis and real-time PCR. We observed TIM-3/Gal-9 expression in both eutopic and ectopic endometria, with elevated expression in adenomyosis. These data suggest that TIM-3/Gal-9 may be involved in the development and progression of adenomyosis.

摘要

T细胞免疫球蛋白粘蛋白分子-3（TIM-3）作为负调节免疫检查点, 通过与其配体半乳糖凝集素-9（Gal-9）结合而在细胞免疫中发挥重要作用。在异常情况下, 该途径可以调节T细胞的消耗并抑制免疫反应。TIM-3和Gal-9的异常表达已在多种癌症, 反复流产, 慢性感染性疾病和自身免疫性疾病中得到证实。越来越多的研究表明免疫因子在子宫腺肌病的发病机制中起着重要的作用。 但是, 很少有研究探讨它们在子宫腺肌病中的表达。从15例子宫腺肌病的患者和13例非子宫腺肌病患者采集异位和正常子宫内膜。使用免疫组化, 蛋白质印迹分析和实时荧光定量PCR检测子宫内膜组织中TIM-3 / Gal-9的表达。 我们在正常和异位的子宫内膜组织中均观察到TIM-3 / Gal-9表达, 其在子宫腺肌病中表达升高。这些数据表明TIM-3 / Gal-9可能参与了子宫腺肌病的发生和发展。

The Chinese abstracts are translated by Prof. Dr. Xiangyan Ruan and her team: Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100026, China.

Keywords:

• T cell immunoglobulin mucin molecule 3
• galectin-9
• adenomyosis
• endometrium
• immune checkpoint

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all study participants, doctors of Obstetrics and Gynecology department, pathologists, research fellows at Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by the grant NO. 2017YFC1001202 from the National Key Research and Development Program of China, the grant NO. 81671433 (MJL) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the grant NO.201705059 from the Jinan City Science and Technology Development Plan.