TIGIT marks exhausted T cells and serves as a target for immune restoration in patients with chronic HBV infection.
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Chronic HBV infection is a serious worldwide health problem that mainly causes liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Few studies have explored how T cell exhaustion helps HBV avoid immune system attack and how to reverse that exhaustion. Recently, T cell immunoglobulin and immune receptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) domain (TIGIT) have been identified as coinhibitory receptors, similar to PD-1. This study explores the expression of TIGIT and the T cell function changes in patients with chronic HBV infection. RESULTS: In this study, we found that the expression of TIGIT on T cells increased significantly in patients with chronic HBV infection. High expression of TIGIT on T cells is associated with functional exhaustion. Importantly, this study demonstrates that blocking TIGIT can reverse T cell exhaustion and restore function in patients with chronic HBV infection. CONCLUSIONS: HBV induces T cell exhaustion by up-regulating the expression of TIGIT. Blocking the TIGIT/PVR signaling pathway can reverse T cell exhaustion, so this discovery provides an immunotherapy target to battle chronic HBV infection.
Source: PubMed
Authors: Yan-Yan Wei, Jing Fan, Meng-Xuan Shan, Dan-Dan Yin, Li-Li Wang, Wei Ye, Wei Zhao
Language: English
Topic: Hepatitis B Virus Studies
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4226055995