NK cells and NK receptors (PP-007)

We observed a markedly high, but variable, Tim-3 expression on NK cells.Tim-3 was expressed on all CD56dim CD16+ NK cells and heterogeneously expressed on the CD56bright CD16-NK cell subset.We found that NK cells with a lower cell surface density of Tim-3 expression exhibit more effective functional activity.Antibody-mediated cross-linking of Tim-3 on NK cells suppressed their lytic activity.Taken together, Tim-3 is a novel marker that predicts the maturation status of NK cells and constitutes a novel system regulating NK cell function.