ON TARGET: A T cell expressing the protein Tim-3 (green) binds via T-cell receptors (red) to a cell targeted for destruction (blue). KIERA CLAYTON
The paper K.L. Clayton et al., “Soluble Tim-3 is shed from CD8+ T cells by the sheddase ADAM10, is increased in plasma during untreated HIV infection, and correlates with HIV disease progression,” J Virol, doi:10.1128/JVI.00006-15, 2015. The molecule The Tim-3 protein on the surface of T cells is thought to dampen the immune response to prevent harmful overactivation. But in HIV infections, this protective mechanism is hijacked to exhaust T-cell function. Previous studies had found soluble Tim-3 (sTim-3) in the blood of cancer patients, but the role of circulating Tim-3 in HIV infections was not known. The association Kiera Clayton and her colleagues in Mario Ostrowski’s lab at the University of Toronto, along with collaborators elsewhere, analyzed the blood of people infected with HIV and ...
